Tbis      >ok        r 


SOUTHERN    r        ' 


THE 
MODERN  HIGH  SCHOOL 

ITS  ADMINISTRATION  AND  EXTENSION 

WITH    EXAMPLES   AND 
INTERPRETATIONS   OF   SIGNIFICANT  MOVEMENTS 


EDITED   BY 

CHARLES  HUGHES  JOHNSTON,  Ph.D.  (harvard) 

PROFESSOR    OF   SECONDARY   EDUCATION   IN    THE 
UNIVERSITY    OF    ILLINOIS 


STATE  NORMAL  SCHOOL 

LOB  ANGELES.  CALIFORMA 


CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

NEW    YORK  CHICAGO  BOSTON 


Copyright,  igu.  by 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER' 


37 


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on 


fnrF  fairh 


PREFACE 


Among  tnP  fairly  distinct  problems  confronting  the 
serious  student  of  our  modern  high  schools  are  those  of 
the  specific  adjustments  which  may  be  made  consistent 
with  the  gradually  clearing  conception  of  social  educa- 
tion. At  present  we  do  not  perhaps  greatly  need  any 
more  books  which  attempt  merely  the  consistent  for- 
mulation of  theories  of  social  education.  "One  example 
is  worth  a  thousand  arguments,"  says  Gladstone.  This 
book  contains  those  accounts  and  expert  indorsements 
of  high-school  movements  which  are  illustrating  for  us 
the  only  kind  of  social  education  which  as  yet  can  have 
definite  meaning.  The  cumulative  results  of  these  ac- 
counts and  definite  points  of  view  furnish  data  for  a 
respectable  social  philosophy  of  education.  The  field 
covered  is  simply  that  indicated  by  the  title  of  the  vol- 
ume: i.  e.,  a  survey  of  policies,  examples  and  sugges- 
tions of  ways  and  means  of  making  the  strictly  socializing 
work  of  our  actual  high  schools  more  definite,  more  effect- 
ive and  more  nearly  universal. 

A  former  volume  ("High  School  Education")  was 
concerned  primarily  with  the  problems  of  classroom  in- 
struction in  the  different  high-school  subjects  and  with 
certain  technical  matters  of  administration  closely  re- 
lated to  these  problems.  A  third  volume  is  under  way 
which  is  to  deal  strictly  and  systematically  with  the 
clearly  distinct  problems  of  high-school  supervision  (es- 


iv  PREFACE 

pecially  of  class  teaching).  It  is  hoped  that  this  pres- 
ent second  volume  may  make  definite  contributions  and 
prove  stimulating  to  the  movement  for  promoting,  the 
efficiency  of  social  administration  as  distinguished  from 
merely  mechanical  administration  of  our  high  schools. 

This  book  is  in  no  sense  a  comnJ^ion  of  articles 
written  originally  by  different  autl«BkUh  different 
aims  in  mind.  It  is.  instead.  distinctlya^Rc  co-opera- 
tively undertaken  with  a  clear  agreement  beforehand  as 
to  the  one  dominant  purpose  in  view,  which  has  been 
expressed  above  and  which  is  elaborated  in  the  Intro- 
duction. 

The  editorial  policy,  in  chapter  headings  and  through- 
out the  volume,  has  been  to  have  these  social  problems 
called  by  their  common  names,  and,  where  necessary,  to 
sacrifice  the  appearance  of  adherence  to  a  set  sociolog- 
ical system  of  treatment  in  the  interests  of  concreteii 
and  wider  appeal.  The  new  awakening  all  over  the 
country  to  a  realization  of  the  social  and  democratic 
meaning  as  well  as  the  purely  instructional  nature  of 
secondary  education  warrants  the  conviction  that  the 
popular  demand  for  the  book  is  genuine.  There  are, 
furthermore,  no  works  at  present  which  in  any  way 
cover  the  same  field.  The  most  impelling  reasons  for 
the  issuance  of  the  volume,  however,  are  that  it  is  gen- 
uinely needed,  and  that  it  will  itself  be  an  instrument  of 
great  social  value.  No  other  appeal  or  motive  could 
have  assembled  so  many  specialists  for  such  a  co-operative 
venture. 

There  has  been  a  conscious  and  constant  attempt  on 
the  part  of  all  the  writers  to  adopt  a  style  which  is  not 
too  technical,  and  a  general  mode  of  presentation  which 
is  as  popular  as  the  nature  of  the  topics  in  question  will 


be 

Ml 


PREFACE  v 

allow.  The  reader  may  find  in  each  chapter  a  formula- 
tion of  general  principles  and  a  setting  in  educational 
theory  for  the  definite  proposals  made  to  high  schools. 
The  editorial  policy  has  been  to  modify  or  reconstruct, 
eliminate  or  make  additions,  only  where  consistency 
with  the  fundamental  purpose  set  forth  in  the  Introduc- 
tion (Char^^  ^peemed  to  demand  such  alteration. 

The  ma^f^nf  this  volume  has  been  used  in  regular 
college  classes  in  Teachers  College,  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, and  in  the  University  of  Illinois.  Many  important 
changes  and  additions  have  been  suggested  by  these 
kindly  and  co-operating  critics,  particularly  the  mem- 
bers of  the  summer-school  classes  of  Teachers  College. 

hese  latter  large  and  representative  groups  of  actual 

hoolmen,  who  had  met  the  problems  in  their  actual 
chool  settings,  contributed  much  to  what  value  the 
reorganized  material  here  presented  in  book  form  may 
have.  The  volume,  as  was  its  predecessor,  is  dedicated 
to  the  high-school  teachers  of  the  country  who  now  are 
finding  themselves  immersed  in  the  very  sea  of  prob- 
lems whose  tentative  solutions,  or  whose  statements  at 
any  rate,  the  co-operating  authors  here  seek  systemati- 
cally to  propose. 

Were  the  authors  themselves  not  in  a  sense  signers 
of  the  Preface  and  Dedication,  they  should  be  included 
in  the  above  group  because  of  their  generous  and  cour- 
teous and  constant  attitude  of  co-operation  throughout 
long  months  of  the  undertaking. 

Charles  Hughes  Johnston,  Editor. 

University  of   Illinois, 
June,  1914. 


i 


* 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION 

Chapter  I — The  Social  Administration  of  the 
High  School 

By  Charles  Hughes  Johnston,  Ph.D.  (Harvard),  Professor  of 
Secondary  Education,  University  of  Illinois. 

i.  Co-operative  treatment  of  high  school  problems  neces- 
sary. 2.  Difference  between  theory  and  practice  of  social 
education.  3.  Contrasting  types  of  high  schools  as  to  material 
equipment.  4.  Contrasting  estimates  of  the  socializing  work 
of  the  high  school.  5.  The  new  era  and  typical  problems  and 
tendencies.  6.  The  meaning  of  social  administration.  7. 
Plan  of  the  book. 


PART  I 
the  institutional  relationships  of  the  high 

SCHOOL 

Chapter  II — High  School  Education  as  a  So- 
cial Enterprise 20 

By  David  Snedden,  Ph.D.  (Columbia),  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion for  the  State  of  Massachusetts. 

1.  The  high  school  a  central  agency  in  American  education. 
2.  Faith  of  the  public  in  the  high  school.  3.  Functions  of  the 
high  school.  4.  Factors  in  curriculum  making.  5.  Lack  of 
curriculums  based  on  science  or  experience.  6.  Demand  for 
a  more  vital  education.  7.  Need  of  a  purposeful  social  edu- 
cation. 8.  Traditional  subjects  discussed  in  regard  to  their 
social  utility.  9.  Dominant  social  utilities.  10.  Need  of 
flexible  programme,  n.  Suggestions  for  placing  secondary 
education   on   scientific   basis. 


viii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  III — The  Legal  Status  of  the  High 

School       42 

By  James  Howard  Hanger,  A.M.  (Kansas),  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  Rossville,  Kans. 

1.  Shortcomings  of  the  American  high  school.  2.  Need 
that  the  public  school  be  placed  on  a  firm  financial  basis.  3. 
Present  system  of  taxation  and  distribution  not  satisfactory. 

4.  Present  status  for  different  States.  5.  Educational  expert 
a  public  necessity. 

Chapter  IV — The  High  School  as  a  Business 

Enterprise 101 

By  Homer  W.  Josselyn,  A.M.  (Michigan),  Associate  Professor 
of  School  Administration.  University  of  Kansas. 

1.  Development  of  secondary  ed^^on  in  United  States. 
2.  Secondary  education  now  a  prc^H  necessity.  3.  High 
school  statistics  1900  and  1909.     4.  Vj    ase  in  per  capita  cost. 

5.  Charts  showing  high  school  enrollrrre^t,  numlj  |  of  build- 
ings, number  of  teachers,  grade  distribution,  puoK  and  pri- 
vate high  schools,  and  mortality  in  high  school.  6.  Private 
and  public  enterprises  compared.  7.  Secondary  education 
now  in  realm  of  "big  business"  enterprises.  8.  Position  of 
business  manager  established.  9.  Current  problems  in  second- 
ary education.  10.  Educational  experimentation  in  Newton, 
Mass.  11.  Per  capita  costs  in  secondary  and  elementary  ed- 
ucation. 12.  Relation  of  expenditures  for  elementary  and  sec- 
ondary education.  13.  Proportion  of  public  funds  to  be  spent 
on  schools.  14.  Need  for  increased  qualifications  for  educa- 
tional workers,  for  larger  salaries,  for  more  men,  for  continued 
study  after  entering  the  profession,  for  leaves  of  absence  with 
part  pay,  and  for  pensions.  15.  Adequate  reports  to  public 
a  modern  necessity.  16.  Conditions  in  secondary  schools  of 
Kansas. 

Chapter  V — The  Relation  of  the  High  School 

to  the  Elementary  School 164 

By  Homer  W.  Josselyn,  A.M.  (Michigan),  Associate  Professor 
of  School  Administration,  University  of  Kansas. 

1.  Early  educational  conditions  in  colonies.  2.  Latin  or 
grammar  school  versus  dame  or  vernacular  school.     3.  Rapid 


CONTENTS  ix 


changes  in  nineteenth  century.  4.  Schools  to-day  not  meeting 
the  needs  of  many.  5.  Our  failure  to  accomplish  universal 
education.  6.  Increase  in  the  subject  matter  not  enough. 
7.  Need  for  thorough  readjustment  of  curriculum.  8.  Gap 
between  the  elementary  and  secondary  schools.  9.  Increased 
interest  of  the  public  in  educational  affairs.  10.  Comparison 
of  period  of  American  secondary  education  with  that  of  Eu- 
ropean nations.  11.  Period  when  secondary  education  should 
begin.  12.  Purpose  of  public  education  to-day.  13.  Need 
for  reorganization  of  whole  scheme  of  public  education.  14. 
Chart  with  various  suggested  plans  for  reorganization.  15. 
Discussion  of  each  plan  in  detail. 

Chapter  VI — The  Relation  of  the  High 
School  to  Higher  J^^^ctonal  Institu- 
tions     .     .     .   ^£^H     W 197 


By  Clarence  D.  Kisgsley, ^mgh  Scfiool  Inspector,  Massachu- 
setts Boar&bJ  Education. 

1.  Preparation  and  selection  of  pupils  for  higher  educa- 
tional institutions.  2.  Elements  essential  to  college  prepara- 
tory curriculums.  3.  Educational  values  of  high  school  "ma- 
jors" and  "minors."  4.  Training  for  citizenship  as  aim  of 
curriculum.  5.  Limitations  of  small  high  schools.  6.  Need 
for  the  general  curriculum  and  its  relation  to  higher  education. 
7.  Educational  guidance  defined.  8.  Guidance  in  choosing 
electives.  9.  Decision  as  to  higher  education.  10.  Choice  of 
kind  of  higher  education  and  of  particular  institution. 

Chapter  VII — The  Relation  or  the  High 
School  to  the  Industrial  Life  of  the 
Community 209 

By  Frank  Tracy  Carlton,  Ph.D.   (Wisconsin),  Professor  of 
Economics  and  History,  Albion  College. 

1.  Early  high  school  education  was  vocational  in  character. 
2.  Haphazard  changes  in  the  high  school  curriculum.  3.  The 
high  school  was  organized  before  large-scale  industry  became 
important.  4.  Effect  of  social  inertia  upon  educational  ad- 
vance. 5.  Revolutionary  changes  in  American  life.  6.  The 
practical  standard  of  educational  values.     7.  The  social  stand- 


CONTENTS 


ard  of  educational  values.  8.  The  function  of  the  modern 
high  school.  9.  Practical  proposals.  10.  The  co-operative 
plan.  11.  The  public  works  high  school.  12.  Wisconsin's 
system  of  industrial  education.     13.  Cooley's  plan. 


PART  II 

THE     MORE     INTIMATE     SPECIALIZED     RELATIONSHIPS    OF 
HIGH    SCHOOL   WORK 

Chapter  VIII — Socialized  High  School  Curric- 

ulums  and  Courses  of  Study        .    .    .    229 

By  Colin  A.   Scott,   Ph.D.  „ (Clark),  Head  of  Department  of 

Psychology,  Boston  Normal  School. 

1.  Historical  beginningsrvQlf  Social  pressure  on  the  high 
school.  3.  Superior  authority  and  the  course  of  study.  4.  Co- 
operative course  of  study.  5.  The  Los  Angeles  High  School. 
6.  The  Practical  Arts  High  School.  7.  Aim  of  social  pressure. 
8.  Example  of  a  socialized  curriculum. 

Chapter  IX — The  Details  of  Class  Manage- 
ment in  Its  Relation  to  the  Family, 
the  Outside  Community,  and  the  Sub- 
ject        245 

By  Dora  Williams,  Teacher  of  Physiology  and  Hygiene,  Boston 
Normal  School,  Boston,  Mass. 

1.  Initiative  in  class  work.  2.  Organization.  3.  Group 
work.  4.  Co-operation  of  outsiders.  5.  Effect  upon  the  class. 
6.  Recording  values.  7.  Raising  the  class  standard.  8.  Ex- 
tension of  work.     9.  Enrichment  of  the  programme. 

Chapter  X — The  Direction  of  Study  as  the 

Chief  Aim  of  the  High  School     .     .     .     265 

By  Alfred  L.  Hall-Quest,  A.M.  (Princeton),  Assistant  in  Edu- 
cation, University  of  Illinois. 

1.  The  prevailing  emphasis  on  the  technic  of  teaching  makes 
imperative  a  closer  attention  to  the  technic  of  study.     2.  The 


CONTENTS  xi 


PACE 


meaning  of  study.  3.  Factors  entering  into  the  proper  direc- 
tion of  study.  4.  The  teacher's  attitude  in  the  classroom  and 
its  direct  bearing  upon  the  student's  efficiency  in  study.  5. 
Books  and  the  technic  of  study.  6.  Conditions  for  effective 
study.  7.  The  importance  of  incentives.  8.  Hindrances  and 
distractions.  9.  A  modification  of  home  study  necessary. 
10.  The  social  viewpoint  of  the  high  school  makes  possible  a 
daily  and  active  appeal  to  the  pupils  to  fit  themselves  for  citi- 
zenship through  training  their  minds  to  work  economically. 


Chapter  XI — Social  Value  of  School  Study 

Versus  Home  Study 295 

By  William  Wiener,  A.M.   (Columbia),  Principal  of  Central 
Commercial  and  Manual  Training  High  School,  Newark,  N .  J. 

1.  Disadvantages  of  home  study.  2.  Efficiency  and  hu- 
manity in  school  policy.  3.  Effect  on  teachers  of  system  out- 
lined. 4.  Remodelling  and  replanning  of  recitations.  5.  Pro- 
motions.    6.  Results  of  conference  study  plan. 


Chapter  XII — Home  and  School  Association— 

The  High  School's  Right  Arm      .     .     .    312    . 

By  Mary  V.  Grice,  Founder  of  Home  and  School  League  of 
Philadelphia. 

1.  The  "Commencement."  2.  Community  need  versus  tra- 
ditional pedagogy.  3.  The  school  approach — the  home's  ap- 
peal. 4.  Combined  forces,  added  power  to  both.  5.  A  home 
and  school  association.  6.  Aims.  7.  Methods.  8.  Activi- 
ties.    9.  Ultimate  goal. 

Chapter    XIII — The    School's    Co-operative 

Agencies 328 

By  Stanton  Olinger,  M.A.,  B.D.  (Kansas),  Principal  Westmin- 
ster Hall,  Lawrence,  Kans. 

1.  The  school  a  social  creation.  2.  Criticisms  of  the  school. 
3.  Formation  of  a  home  and  school  association.  4.  Purpose  of 
the  federation.     5.  The  spiritual  or  psychic  aspects.     6.  Phys- 


CONTENTS 


ical  benefits.  7.  Private  gifts  as  a  result  of  the  federation. 
8.  The  moral  and  religious  problem.  9.  The  present  status. 
10.  Advantages  to  the  school.  11.  Suggested  subjects  for 
programmes.  12.  Organization  of  a  home  and  school  associa- 
tion. 13.  Social  experts  a  necessity.  14.  Summary  and  con- 
clusion. 


PART  III 

DEFINITE    INTERNAL    EXPRESSIONS    OF    THE    SOCIAL    NA- 
TURE  AND    SOCIALIZING   FUNCTION   OF   THE 
HIGH   SCHOOL 

Chapter  XIV — The  Internal  Government  as 
an  Expression  of  the  Social  Character 
of  the  High  School      . 355 

By  H.  L.  Miller,  A.B.  (Kansas),  Assistant  Professor  of  Educa- 
tion and  Principal  of  the  Wisconsin  High  School,  University 
of  Wisconsin. 

1.  Application  of  social  standards  to  educational  forces. 
2.  Democracy  and  education.  3.  General  character  of  the 
high  school  periods.  4.  External  agencies  as  conditioning  fac- 
tors. 5.  Teachers  and  principal  a  representative  social  group. 
6.  Development  and  expression  of  the  corporate  life  of  the 
school.  7.  Adult  guidance.  8.  Social  significance  of  class- 
room activity.  9.  Means  of  establishing  organic  connection 
with  community  life.  10.  Grouping  of  studies.  11.  Expressive 
activities  of  school  life.  12.  Interest  and  group  activity.  13. 
Development  of  capacity  for  self-direction. 

Chapter  XV — The  Improvement  of  High 
School  Teachers  in  Service  as  an  Im- 
portant Factor  in  the  Social  Adminis- 
tration of  High  Schools       382 

By  Charles  Hughes  Johnston,  Ph.D.,  Editor  and  Professor  of 
Secondary  Education,  University  of  Illinois. 

1.  A  reasonable  schedule  of  professional  reading  for  high 
school  teachers.     2.  High  school  faculty  meetings  which  count 


CONTENTS  xiii 


professionally.  3.  Constructive  supervision  of  class  teaching. 
4.  High  school  departmentalism  and  the  assignment  of  work 
to  teachers.  5.  Promotion  of  high  school  teachers  and  means 
of  measuring  merit.  6.  Scientific  investigations  by  high  school 
teachers.  7.  Civic  and  social  equipment  of  the  modern  high 
school  teacher.  8.  Common  mistakes  of  new  teachers  and  the 
amount  and  time  of  classroom  supervision  required.  9.  Cer- 
tain miscellaneous  suggestions  for  the  improvement  of  teachers 
in  service. 


Chapter  XVI — The  Administration  of  the  So- 
cial Activities  or  High  School  Students    410 

By  Jesse  B.  Davis,  A.M.  (Colgate),  Principal  of  the  Central  High 
School,  and  Director  of  Vocational  Work,  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich. 

1.  Attitude  of  the  administrative  body.  2.  Training  for 
social  efficiency.  3.  Problems  of  reformation;  traditions,  social 
democracy,  conduct  of  social  functions,  efficient  leadership. 
4.  A  suggested  plan  of  administration,  advisory  boards,  an  ad- 
visory council,  a  student  council,  leadership  clubs.  5.  Rules 
and  regulations.  6.  Classification  of  student  activities.  7.  So- 
cial efficiency  and  school  records.  8.  Credit  toward  gradua- 
tion for  social  efficiency.  9.  Direction  of  social  activities  an 
administrative  function. 


Chapter  XVII — High  School  Athletics  and 
Gymnastics  as  an  Expression  of  the 
Corporate  Life  of  the  School     .    .    .    429 

By  James  Naismith,  M.D.  (Colorado),  Professor  of  Physical 
Education,  and  Director  of  Health  and  Physical  Education, 
University  of  Kansas. 

1.  Definition  and  forms.  2.  Values  of  muscular  exercise, 
hygienic,  recreative,  social,  educational,  moral.  3.  Place  in  a 
school  programme.  4.  Methods  of  conducting  school  sports. 
5.  Aims  of  physical  education.  6.  Principles  governing  the 
selection  of  sports.  7.  Medical  supervision  of  sports.  8. 
Equipment. 


v/V 


xiv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  XVIII — Student  Debating  Activities    463 

By  A.  Monroe  Stowe,  Ph.D.  (Columbia),  Professor  of  Education, 
De  Pauw  University. 

1.  The  need  for  student  debating  activities.  2.  Time  of 
meeting  for  high  school  debating  societies.  3.  The  relation 
of  the  faculty  to  the  high  school  debating  society.  4.  Recom- 
mended methods  of  procedure  planned  to  secure  the  greatest 
educational  value  from  the  work  of  the  debating  club.  5.  Re- 
lation of  the  high  school  faculty  to  inter-high  school  debating. 
6.  A  method  of  procedure  recommended  for  genuine  inter- 
high  school  debates.     7.  Author's  note. 

Chapter  XIX — High  School  Journalism: 
Studying  Newspapers  and  Utilizing  the 
School  Paper 484 

By  Merle  Thorpe,  A.B.  (Leland  Stanford),  Professor  of  Jour- 
nalism, University  of  Kansas. 

1.  Studying  the  newspaper.  2.  Knowledge  of  current 
events.  3.  As  an  aid  in  teaching  geography  and  history. 
4.  As  an  aid  in  teaching  English  composition.  5.  Utilizing 
the  high  school  paper.  6.  Getting  the  paper  started.  7.  Se- 
lecting the  staff.  Duties  of  the  staff.  8.  Preparing  for  pub- 
lishing. 9.  Campaigning  for  circulation.  10.  Gathering  ad- 
vertising.    11.  The  physical  appearance  of  the  paper. 

Chapter  XX — High  School  Fraternities  and 

the  Social  Life  of  the  School     .     .     .    498 

By  John  Calvin  Hanna,  A.M.  (Wooster),  Slate  Supervisor  of 
High  Schools  of  Illinois,  formerly  Principal  of  the  Oak  Park 
and  River  Forest  Township  High  School,  Oak  Park,  III. 

1.  The    changed    high     school.     2.  Legitimate    activities. 

3.  Causes  for  the  development  of  the  high  school  fraternity. 

4.  Gang  spirit.  5.  Need  which  called  forth  the  college  fra- 
ternity. 6.  College  fraternities  and  individualism.  7.  Indi- 
vidualism giving  way  to  altruism.  8.  Artificiality  of  high 
school  fraternities.  9.  Testimony  of  school  authorities.  10. 
Methods  of  eliminating  high  school  fraternities. 


CONTENTS  xv 


PART  IV 

ADDITIONAL     SOCIALIZING     FUNCTIONS     OF     THE     MODERN 
HIGH   SCHOOL 

PAGE 

Chapter  XXI — The  High  School  as  a  Social 

Centre 517 

By  Clarence  Arthur  Perry,  B.S.  (Cornell),  Assistant  Director 
Department  of  Recreation,  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 

1.  A  study  in  educational  evolution.  2.  Extension  of  pub- 
lic education  general.  3.  Attitude  of  high  school  in  process  of 
1  formation.  4.  Growth  of  extension  activities  furthered  by  ad- 
ministrative tendencies  and  social  conditions.  5.  The  prin- 
cipal's increasing  initiative.  6.  Responsibility  to  community 
keenest  in  rural  high  school.  7.  Turning  to  the  high  school  for 
cure  of  social  ills.  8.  Increasing  the  staff  for  social  centre  pur- 
poses. 9.  Public  education  asked  to  prepare  for  group  rela- 
tionships. 10.  Social  centre  work  a  group-forming  process. 
11.  The  group  aspects  of  vocational  life.  12.  Preparing  for 
social  relationships.  13.  Groups  in  civic  life.  14.  Cultural 
activities  stimulated  by  the  community.  15.  The  high  school 
social  centre  for  the  city;  the  elementary  centre  for  the  neigh- 
borhood.    16.  Practical  first  steps.     17.  Conclusion. 

Chapter  XXII — Continuation   Work   in   the 

High  School 546 

By  Calvin  Olin  Davis,  Ph.D.  (Harvard),  Junior  Professor  of 
Education,  University  of  Michigan. 

1.  Definition.  2.  Historical  sketch.  3.  Present  situation. 
4.  Awakened  interest.  5.  Conclusions  drawn  from  facts  and 
theories.  6.  Principles  governing  continuation  work.  7.  The 
problem  restated.  8.  Those  for  whom  continuation  work 
should  be  provided.  9.  Classification  of  types  of  continuation 
work  in  the  United  States.  10.  Analysis  of  the  various  types. 
11.  Administration  of  continuation  schools.  12.  Obstacles. 
13.  Summary. 


xvi  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  XXIII — Socializing  Function  of  the 

High  School  Library 591 

By  Florence  M.  Hopkins,  Librarian,  Central  High  School,  De- 
troit, Michigan. 

1.  Growing  conception  of  the  function  of  the  library.  2.  So- 
cializing function  of  the  college  library  and  the  public  library. 
3.  Socializing  function  of  the  high  school  library.  4.  Different 
high  schools  developing  special  phases.  5.  The  practical  phase 
and  the  vocational  phase.  6.  The  civic  phase.  7.  The  cul- 
tural phase.  8.  Lectures  including  parents.  9.  Training  for 
large  views.  10.  Libraries  should  be  recognized  as  depart- 
ments.    11.  Present  versus  future  status  of  the  library. 

Chapter    XXIV — Vocational    Guidance    and 

the  High  School       608 

By  Meyer  Bloomfield,  A.B.  (Harvard),  Director  of  the  Boston 
Vocation  Bureau. 

1.  Principles  underlying  vocational  guidance.  2.  Need  of 
understanding  personal  problems  and  capacities  of  the  pupils. 

3.  Educational  guidance,  foundation  of  vocational  guidance. 

4.  Description  of  questionnaire  sent  out  by  Bessie  B.  Davis. 

5.  Special  interest  exerted  in  holding  the  interest  of  adolescents. 

6.  Small  proportion  of  pupils  go  to  work  because  of  pressure  of 
circumstances.  7.  Description  of  experiment  carried  on  in 
North  Bennett  Street  Industrial  School. 

Chapter  XXV — Avocational  Guidance        .     .     629 

By  William  C.  Ruediger,  Ph.D.  (Columbia),  Professor  of  Edu- 
cational Psychology  and  Dean  of  Teachers  College,  The  George 
Washington  University. 

1.  Recognition  of  the  problem.  2.  Activities  influenced  by 
education:  vocational  activities;  social  activities;  supplemen- 
tary activities.  3.  Objective  and  subjective  viewpoints.  4. 
Avocations  and  diversions  distinguished.  5.  Prevalence  of 
avocational  pursuits.  6.  Qualities  of  acceptable  avocations: 
appeal  to  personal  interest;  progressive  achievement;  appeal 
to  intellect;  possibility  of  individual  pursuit.  7.  Relation  of 
avocation  to  vocation.  8.  Relation  of  avocation  to  social  ac- 
tivities.    9.  Needs   for   avocational   training:    general;    spe- 


CONTENTS  xvii 

PAGE 

cific.  10.  The  school  and  avocational  guidance:  directing  at- 
tention of  pupils;  student  clubs  and  organizations;  content 
and  method  of  instruction. 

Chapter  XXVI — Co-operation  in  the  Teach- 
ing of  English 654 

By  James  Fleming  Hosic,  Ph.M.  (Chicago),  Professor  of  English, 
Chicago  Normal  College. 

1.  The  importance  of  co-operation.  2.  Difficulty  of  learn- 
ing language.  3.  Obstacles  to  be  overcome;  lack  of  uniform 
standards,  absence  of  common  aims,  bad  working  conditions. 
4.  Successful  plans.     5.  Methods  of  grading.     6.  Summary. 

Chapter  XXVII — The  Hygiene  of  the  High 
School — Medical  Supervision,  School 
Sanitation,  Hygiene  of  Instruction      .     668 

By  Louis  W.  Rapeer,  Ph.D.  (Columbia),  Professor  of  Psychol- 
ogy and  Education,  New  York  Training  School  for  Teachers. 

i.  Medical  sociology.  2.  Eugenics.  3.  Heredity  and  the 
high  school.  4.  Educational  hygiene.  5.  Duties  of  physi- 
cians and  nurses.  6.  Medical  examinations.  7.  Ailments  of 
high  school  pupils.  8.  School  sanitation.  9.  Hygienic  teach- 
ing in  the  high  school. 

Chapter  XXVIII — The  High  School  as   the 

Art   Centre   of   the    Community       .     .    692 

By  Ella  Bond  Johnston,  Chairman  Art  Department,  General 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs.  President  1898-1913  The  Art 
Association  of  Richmond,  Ind. 

1.  Rightful  place  of  art  in  public  schools.  2.  Uniqueness  of 
the  Richmond  story.  3.  Organization.  4.  Existing  condi- 
tions. 5.  Efforts  of  art  association  supplementary.  6.  Ex- 
penses. 7.  School  house  for  art  gallery.  8.  Early  exhibits. 
9.  How  they  grew.  10.  Attendance.  11.  Limitations.  12. 
Gallery  in  high  school.  13.  Management.  14.  Schedule  of 
exhibits  for  one  season.  15.  Opportunity  for  new  relation- 
ship. 16.  Use  by  high  school.  17.  By  grades.  18.  By  clubs. 
19.  By  local  artists.  20.  Open  days.  21.  Permanent  collec- 
tion of  works  of  art.     22.  Conclusion. 


xviii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  XXIX — The  Moral  Agencies  Affect- 
ing the  High  School  Student       ...     707 

By  John  Calvin  Hanna,  A.M.  (Wooster),  State  Supervisor  of 
High  Schools  of  Illinois,  formerly  Principal  of  the  Oak  Park 
and  River  Forest  Township  High  School,  Oak  Park,  111. 

1.  Agencies  affecting  moral  training.  2.  Responsibility  of 
the  school.  3.  Responsibility  of  the  family.  4.  Helpful  sug- 
gestions. 5.  School  virtues  and  life  virtues.  6.  The  newer 
aim  of  education.  7.  Patriotism  as  a  basis.  8.  The  broader 
conception.  9.  Manual  training.  10.  School  as  a  social  in- 
stitution. 11.  School  sports.  12.  The  teacher,  the  chief 
moral  agency. 

Chapter  XXX — The   Religious  Life   of  the 

High  School  Student 736 

By  Emil  Carl  Wilm,  Ph.D.  (Cornell),  Professor  of  Philosophy 
and  Education,  Wells  College. 

1.  The  religious  influences  of  the  high  school  direct  and  in- 
direct. 2.  Definition  of  religion  and  religious  education. 
3.  Religion  as  a  theoretical  world  view.  4.  Religion  as  an 
ethical  inspiration.  5.  Its  imaginative  redundancy.  6.  The 
problem  of  religion  in  public  education.  7.  Significance  of  the 
secular  curriculum  for  religious  culture.  8.  The  importance 
of  the  teacher.  9.  The  question  of  specific  instruction  in  bib- 
lical literature  and  history.  10.  The  situation  in  Germany. 
11.  Lines  of  co-operation  between  the  high  school  and  the 
Sunday  School. 

Bibliography       761 

Appendix 829 

Index 841 


THE  MODERN  HIGH  SCHOOL 

ITS  ADMINISTRATION  AND  EXTENSION 


INTRODUCTION 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  SOCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL 

Charles  Hughes  Johnston,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR    OF    SECONDARY    EDUCATION,    UNIVERSITY    OF    ILLINOIS 

Co-operation  of  Specialists. — Organized  co-operation 
in  educational  thinking,  particularly  of  an  administrative 
or  social  order,  in  matters  of  secondary  education — like 
co-operative  philosophizing — is  a  "sadly  unaccustomed 
practice."  The  majority  even  doubt  its  desirability  if 
they  admit  its  possibility.  However,  we  who  are  con- 
cerned with  high  school  development  must  not  delay 
further  this  provisional  segregation  of  our  definite  and 
pressing  problems,  and  we  must  collectively  work  out  a 
common  platform  of  essentials.  This  book  represents, 
on  the  part  of  the  contributors,  a  genuine  and  persistent 
attempt  to  think  closely  upon  related  factors  of  a  com- 
mon social  problem  and  ideal.  The  authors,  further- 
more, attempt  to  think  together  in  so  far  as  the  funda- 
mental and  unescapable  socializing  functions  of  public 
high  schools  are  concerned. 

Social  Character  of  High  School  Education. — That 
public  education  in  America,  and  especially  high  school 
education,  should  be  primarily  a  socializing  process  gains 
universal  and  easy  assent.  Often  in  like  manner  we 
take  for  granted  many  things  which  are  not,  as  a  matter 

3 


4  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

of  fact,  happening  at  all.  So  it  is  too  frequently  in  the 
case  of  our  high  school  work.  Our  high  schools  are  to 
make  our  citizens,  we  urge.  Yet  our  citizens  in  great 
proportion  remain  unmade  or  are  self-made. 

Now,  the  school,  the  state,  and  the  church  are  typical 
and  permanent  forms  through  which  society  seeks  to 
express  itself.  These  institutions  express  collective  in- 
terests and  co-operative  action,  at  the  same  time  em- 
ploying individuals  for  typical  and  practical  social 
exercises.  The  boy  and  girl  in  the  school  must  be 
trained  for  and  introduced  into  society;  but,  beyond 
this,  they  must  be  trained  to  contribute  to  society  as  a 
cause  nobler  than  individuality  itself.  It  follows  par- 
ticularly that  the  American  high  school  must,  as  a 
democratic  public  institution  and  agency,  establish  as 
well  as  foster  social  life.  As  J.  Mark  Baldwin  has  said: 
"The  institutions  of  education  are  not  something  simply 
agreed  to  and  adopted  because  they  seem  wise."  They 
are  natural  expressions  of  society  itself.  Our  high 
schools,  then,  are  of  the  very  essence  of  our  democracy 
as  well  as  a  device  for  securing  democracy. 

Elementary  instruction  of  this  social  character  is 
found  in  animal  companies.  The  family  more  clearly 
is  an  educational  institution,  with  drilling  in  the  essen- 
tials of  social  life  and  habit.  Just  so  the  schools  of  all 
grades,  but  particularly  the  high  school,  must  in  a 
definite  sense  perform  their  socializing  duties.  These 
duties  comprise  partly  the  traditional  academic  or  in- 
tellectualistic  ones.  Beyond  this,  however,  they  com- 
prise those  more  conventional  and  informal  yet  highly 
effective  modes  of  schooling  which  come,  through  play, 
imitation,  rivalry,  social  intercourse,  and  initiation, 
under  supervised  school  control  and  direction,  into  the 


SOCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  5 

various  sorts  of  industrial  and  moral  give  and  take 
which  actual  life  later  provides.  There  is  a  pedagogical 
side  of  actual  society.  Society  is,  so  to  speak,  a  con- 
tinuation school  for  all  of  us.  The  high  school,  in  part 
at  least,  reproduces  this  life  of  society,  embodying  it 
either  formally  or  indirectly  in  its  very  organization 
and  life.  The  high  school's  general  role,  furthermore, 
must  be  that  of  socialization  in  such  a  way  as  to  insure 
at  the  same  time  the  integrity  of  development  of  the 
entire  self  of  the  student,  his  individuality  as  well  as 
his  purely  social  self.  There  is  a  fortunate  concurrence 
between  these  two  demands  and  ideals.  A  high  school 
student  will  be  most  surely  discovering  himself  as  he 
has  brought  out  for  him  his  social  nature  and  capacities. 
The  capricious  or  freakish,  unsocial  or  purely  individual- 
istic genius  is  powerless  and  useless  because  he  lacks 
contact  with  actual  social  forces.  His  life  lacks  real- 
ness.  Our  high  school,  then,  to  be  socializing  and  col- 
lectivistic  in  its  operation,  must  pointedly  seek  to  reduce 
eccentricity,  as  such,  and  definitely  and  systematically 
plan  to  train  its  students'  powers  as  the  best  social 
usages  and  common  life  demand.  High  school  educa- 
tion is,  then,  a  frankly  utilitarian  and  functional  activity 
of  society  itself.  It  is  not  primarily  a  luxury,  academic 
or  otherwise.  It  is  a  necessity.  In  a  secondary  sense, 
our  system  of  high  school  education  may  provide  also 
what  we  style  luxuries  of  life.  It  may  become  an  in- 
stitution for  the  promotion  of  moral  and  artistic  senti- 
ment. It  must,  in  this  role  also,  index,  measure,  and 
establish  social  values  of  this  higher  kind  and  stimulate 
social  attainments. 

Contrasts  in  Material  Equipment. — So  much  by  way 
of  naturalizing  high  school  education  in  our  system  of 


6  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

educational  philosophy.  It  is  well  now  to  turn  to  the 
actual  high  schools  themselves  and  to  examine  special 
expressions  of  the  work  of  the  existing  system  of  high 
schools.  From  every  point  of  view,  existing  high  schools 
present  interesting  and  varying  degrees  of  approxi- 
mations to  an  ideal.  The  following  description  of  ex- 
tremes as  to  equipment  and  educational  environment 
will  help  us  to  realize  our  future  programme  of  equalizing, 
on  the  higher  level,  high  school  opportunity  for  all  our 
boys  and  girls.  The  first  example  is  that  of  the  great 
high  school  building  recently  completed  in  New  York. 
The  new  Washington  Irving  High  School  is  acknowledged 
by  experts  to  be  the  finest  public  school  building  ever 
erected.  It  is  an  eight-story  structure  and  occupies  half 
of  a  city  block  in  Irving  Place,  between  Sixteenth  and 
Seventeenth  Streets.  Some  of  the  interesting  features  of 
the  high  school  are: 

Seven-room  apartment  for  study  of  domestic  science. 

Conservatory  on  the  roof  for  study  of  botany. 

Cages  for  animals  to  be  borrowed  from  the  New  York 
Zoological  Park. 

Fully  equipped  laundry. 

Bookbinding  plant. 

Banking  department,  completely  equipped  with  fur- 
niture, books,  adding-machines,  etc. 

Basket-ball  courts  on  roof. 

Four  gymnasiums  with  shower-baths. 

Seven  large  rooms  for  200  sewing-machines. 

Typewriting  classroom  with  200  typewriting  ma- 
chines. 

Classroom  with  department-store  features  for  the 
study  of  salesmanship. 

Luncheon  room  for  700  pupils. 


SOCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  7 

Auditorium,  with  large  stage,  where  1,550  persons  can 
be  seated. 

The  school  will  care  for  5,900  pupils,  and  228  in- 
structors will  be  employed.  Six  high  schools  will  be 
abandoned  in  Manhattan  and  the  pupils  assembled  in 
the  new  building.  The  new  high  school  building  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  one  and  one  quarter  million  dollars. 
Besides  the  many  innovations  introduced,  every  modern 
appliance  and  equipment  to  be  found  in  any  part  of  the 
world  has  been  obtained  for  the  school. 

There  is  no  end  to  the  novelties  in  the  school.  In  the 
study  of  modern  housekeeping,  which  will  be  taught  in 
the  domestic-science  department,  is  a  seven-room  apart- 
ment fully  furnished  and  apparently  ready  for  occu- 
pancy. There  are  a  pantry  and  kitchen,  dining-room, 
living-room,  bathroom,  bedroom,  nursery,  and  parlor. 

Classes  of  more  than  a  dozen  pupils  will  take  turns  in 
looking  after  and  caring  for  the  apartment.  The  place 
will  be  put  in  disorder  and  the  students  will  have  to 
straighten  matters  out,  from  putting  the  house  in  order 
to  ordering  a  supply  of  groceries,  meats,  and  provisions 
for  the  pantry. 

The  second  example  is  no  less  striking.  This  is  a 
two-teacher  high  school  in  a  rural  community.  There 
are  two  rooms  but  no  comforts.  The  building  is  located 
on  a  wind-swept  hill  twelve  minutes  from  the  town 
proper.  The  outhouse  buildings  are  in  plain  view,  un- 
sightly, propped  up  to  prevent  falling,  foul,  and  unwhole- 
some. The  double  seats  in  the  schoolrooms  are  twenty- 
four  years  old.  A  car-load  of  cinders  serves  as  the  front- 
yard  decoration.  There  are  no  flowers  in  any  of  the 
rooms.  The  chalk  dust  is  one  eighth  of  an  inch  deep 
on   the   edges   of   the   blackboard.     The   faculty   seem 


8  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ancemic.  The  one  male  member  is  also  superintendent 
of  the  elementary  school.  His  salary  is  ninety-five 
dollars  per  month.  He  has  tuberculosis.  The  other 
teacher  is  a  woman  who  labors  for  sixty  dollars  per 
month.  The  school-day  is  one  long  struggle  and  grind 
to  catch  up  with  the  schedule,  each  teacher  being  in 
charge  of  seven  subjects.  There  is  no  home  science  in 
this  schedule,  although  alleviation  of  home  conditions 
might  seem  so  necessary.  Though  the  boys  are  fated  to 
farm,  the  equipment  for  agriculture  teaching  consists 
of  five  tin  cans.  For  the  physics  department  there  are 
six  shelves  three  feet  long.  The  library  consists  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty-four  old  volumes  with  the  backs  worn 
or  torn  and  soiled.  Some  of  these  were  gifts,  and  others, 
with  no  pedagogical  design  in  view,  were  "acquired"  at 
a  sale.  There  is  no  physical  training.  To  a  visitor 
there  seems  to  be  about  this  school,  like  a  gloomy  fog, 
an  unreal,  mystic,  apathetic  faith  in  the  literal  perform- 
ance of  any  sort  of  bookish  task. 

Our  actual  high  schools  range,  for  the  most  part,  some- 
where between  these  two  extremes.  As  for  its  material 
equipment  we  have  reason  to  hope  that  our  modern 
high  school  life  will  be  housed  in  a  building  which  con- 
tains, in  addition  to  the  regular  classrooms,  gymnasiums, 
a  swimming  tank,  physical  and  chemical  laboratories, 
cooking,  sewing,  and  millinery  rooms,  woodworking, 
forge  and  machine  shops,  drawing-rooms,  a  music-room, 
a  room  devoted  to  arts  and  crafts,  and  an  assembly-room, 
or  assembly-rooms,  for  study  and  learning  under  expert 
direction  how  to  study.  This  arrangement  of  rooms 
presupposes  the  plan  of  making  the  high  school,  like 
the  community,  an  aggregation  of  every  sort  of  people 
doing  every  sort  of  work. 


SOCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  9 

Contrasting  Estimates  of  the  High  School  as  a  Social 
Institution. — Beyond  this  disparity  in  material  equip- 
ment we  find  equally  striking  the  opposing  views  re- 
garding the  functioning  of  the  high  school  in  our  demo- 
cratic life.  To  one  expert  critic — "The  high  school  is 
practically  a  class  institution;  a  very  small  percentage 
of  the  school  children  continue  their  education  so  far. 
Neither  is  the  culture  of  the  town  (because  of  it),  as  a 
whole,  particularly  impressive.  The  university  man  may 
well  feel  that  he  has  been  wandering  about  among  the 
moonbeams,  so  few  of  the  modern  points  of  view  and 
interests  have  seeped  down  into  the  intellectual  life  of 
the  town  (because  of  its  high  school).  The  annual 
course  of  lectures,  managed  by  representatives  of  the 
ruling  class,  carefully  side-tracks  all  the  deeper  questions 
of  the  time;  ministers  on  patriotic  subjects,  naturalists 
and  travellers,  readers  of  popular  plays  make  up  the 
list  of  speakers.  The  library  caters  to  an  overwhelming 
demand  for  recent  fiction.  A  woman's  club  discusses 
unfatiguing  literary  subjects.  A  quiet  censorship  is 
exercised  over  the  public  library.  Anything  that  sug- 
gests the  revolutionary  or  the  obscene  is  sternly  banned. 
It  is  considered  better  to  err  on  the  side  of  prudence. 
To  an  outsider  the  culture  of  the  town  seems  at  times 
to  evince  an  almost  unnecessary  anxiety  to  avoid  the 
controversial  and  the  stimulating.  So  long  as  life  is 
smooth  and  unperturbed,  the  people  do  not  care  whether 
it  is  particularly  deep  or  not.  And  they  are  content  to 
leave  all  controversial  questions  in  the  hands  of  their 
'best  men.'  " 

Another  type  of  critic  writes  with  equal  ardor  of  its 
virtues.  "The  public  high  school  has  been  called  the 
'People's  College.'     This  is  a  misnomer.     It  is  immea- 


10  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

surably  more  than  that.  Closer  to  the  people  than  the 
college  can  ever  be,  imbued  with  their  ideals  and  per- 
meated with  their  spirit,  it  is  more  responsive  to  their 
needs  and  demands,  and  is  therefore  in  a  position  to 
render  directly  a  wider  and  more  general  social  service. 

"Equal  opportunity  for  all  the  children  of  all  people 
is  the  watchword  of  the  modern  high  school.  As  social 
and  economic  pressure  is  removed,  the  high  school  will 
provide  this  opportunity,  in  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for 
it  to  do  so,  through  parallel  and  properly  differentiated 
courses  of  instruction  for  the  future  farmer  and  mechanic 
and  home  maker  as  well  as  for  the  future  doctor  and 
lawyer  and  minister.  And  it  will  do  this  not  by  way  of 
cheapening  culture,  but  as  a  certain  means  of  providing 
for  culture  a  firmer  and  saner  basis.  Recognizing,  as  it 
does,  the  true  dignity  of  labor  and  the  true  worth  of 
manhood,  the  modern  public  "high  school  embodies  and 
reflects  the  composite  spirit  that  dominates  Ameri«an 
life,  and  is  at  once  the  most  genuinely  democratic  and 
the  most  thoroughly  representative  of  the  institutions 
yet  devised  and  established  by  American  genius." 

Here,  again,  a  careful  examination  of  most  of  our  ex- 
isting high  schools  would  justify  us  in  striking  a  mean 
between  those  two  extreme  characterizations. 

New  Era  for  High  Schools. — Whatever  stage  of  de- 
velopment our  systems  of  secondary  education  may  have 
reached,  and  whatever  shortcomings  or  virtues  our  dif- 
ferent high  schools  may  have,  for  the  first  time  in  our 
educational  life  as  a  nation  we  have  consciously  and  in 
earnest  set  about  the  work  of  educating  all  our  adoles- 
cents, male  and  female.  For  the  first  time  we  are  calling 
with  one  voice  for  scientific  and  attested  principles  upon 
which  to  base  our  high  school  administration.     For  the 


SOCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  11 

first  time  we  are  really  seeing,  not  acknowledging,  the 
socializing  work  to  be  done  by  the  high  school.  Our 
ideals  are  shifting  from  the  vague,  general,  externally  im- 
posed standards  of  mental  discipline  and  college  prepa- 
ration to  those  translatable  into  twentieth-century  in- 
dividual and  social  requirements:  sound  health  and  a 
health  conscience;  the  ability  to  use  the  intellect  upon 
the  problems  of  ordinary  social,  civic,  and  commercial 
life;  taste  and  the  observance  of  the  demands  for  the 
beautiful  in  both  personal  and  community  concerns; 
an  economic  sense  which  demands  soundness  and  in- 
tegrity in  business;  a  civic  and  moral  consciousness 
which  upholds  and  contributes  to  the  community  ethics 
upon  which  social  progress  depends;  and  a  religious 
sense  which  assures  loyalty  to  a  permanent  system  of 
values.  If  our  one  and  one  fourth  million  adolescents 
now  in  American  high  schools  acquire  these  things  our 
nation's  future  is  assured.  If  they  do  not,  it  is  doomed. 
The  demands  are  insistent  and  they  are  elemental. 

Typical  High  School  Problems. — The  problems  of 
American  secondary  education  are  naturally  multiply- 
ing. In  addition  to  the  traditional  and  generally  ac- 
cepted problems  of  high  school  administration  and  the 
supervision  of  instruction,  there  is  evolving  what  we 
may  term  a  new  conception  of  supervision  and  a  new 
educational  conscience  in  regard  to  the  strictly  social 
administration  of  high  school  work.  The  supervisory 
programme  ahead  requires  that  we  work  out  and  put  in 
operation  a  system  of  general  principles  of  adolescent 
pedagogy  which  is  clearly  based  on  the  problems  aris- 
ing out  of  the  age  of  the  high  school  student  and  his 
likely  participation  in  the  activities  of  his  community. 
This  done,  we  must  refine  the  special  pedagogies  of  all 


12  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

our  constants  in  the  curriculum  and  evolve  from  the 
same  basic  point  of  view  workable  pedagogies  for  the 
newly  admitted  branches.  No  old  pedagogies  can  serve 
us  here.  This  is  a  decade's  programme.  This  field  has 
been  extensively  treated  in  a  former  volume.1  i 

The  Meaning  of  "Social  Administration." — Far  be- 
yond this  instructional  programme,  however,  the  social 
administration  of  our  high  schools  presents  alluring 
problems  of  a  novel  but  critical  character.  These  have 
to  do,  first,  with  more  firmly  establishing  the  conception 
of  secondary  education  as  a  social  enterprise  as  well  as 
an  instructional  operation;  second,  with  the  institu- 
tional relationships  which  the  high  school  must  sustain 
to  other  and  similar  agencies  of  democracy;  and,  third, 
with  those  problems  of  the  various  social  organizations 
within  the  high  school  body  itself.  Under  each  of  these 
divisions  pioneering  treatises  must  be  written,  systematic 
experimentation  carried  on  generally,  and  the  socializ- 
ing function  established  as  a  matter  of  fact,  not  as  an 
easy  assent  to  a  generality — established  so  that  the 
complex  industrial  and  moral  currents  of  the  modern 
world  may  interpret  and  not  obscure  the  high  school's 
mission. 

Signs  of  the  General  Awakening. — Heretofore,  un- 
fortunately, we  have  been  unaccustomed  to  think  co- 
operatively upon  these  problems.  Unlike  the  profession- 
alism, which  has  to  an  extent  guided  the  development 
of  lower  and  higher  grades  of  education,  the  high 
school  has  meandered  along  somewhat  aimlessly  in 
academic  paths  and  been  strangely  unmindful  of  the 
interesting  and  urgent  work  waiting  to  be  done.     Now, 

1  "High  School  Education,"  Charles  Hughes  Johnston  and  others. 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York,  1912. 


SOCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  13 

exploitation  of  this  waiting  work  has  begun.  The  peo- 
ple, the  patrons,  the  taxpayers,  the  citizens  have  caught 
the  spirit  of  looking  for  results.  The  administrators  of 
high  schools,  superintendents,  principals,  supervisors, 
and  teachers  are  doing  genuine  curriculum  thinking. 
These  curriculum  variations,  adapted  to  student  groups 
classified  with  reference  to  social  and  individual  needs, 
are  as  naturally  put  in  operation  to-day  as  they  were 
ignored  twenty-five  years  ago.  We  accept  the  fact  that 
the  high  school  is  a  socializing  institution.  High  school 
supervision,  likewise,  is  being  recognized  as  a  problem 
itself  which  cannot  be  dismissed  nor  solved  merely  by 
the  importation  into  the  high  school  of  principles  dis- 
covered to  apply  elsewhere.  With  this  is  coming  among 
high  school  teachers  the  professional  spirit  and  con- 
sciousness which  have  been  until  recently  so  conspicuous 
by  their  absence.  Standards  are  being  recognized  for 
high  school  teaching,  and  certification  laws  in  most 
States  look  definitely  toward  a  long-desired  minimum 
standard  for  admittance  into  the  high  school  teaching 
profession.  Parallel  with  these  encouraging  tendencies 
has  come  the  institutional  recognition  of  the  field  of 
secondary  education  by  colleges  and  universities.  Sec- 
ondary education  has  itself  become  a  department  of 
study  in  these  higher  curriculums  with  an  actual  model 
high  school  as  its  laboratory.  It  constitutes  a  field  for 
research  where  one  may  hope  soon  to  be  able  to  call  in 
the  services  of  experts  and  to  have  available  results  of 
scientific  investigations. 

Surveys  of  State  conditions  for  high  school  teaching 
show  concrete  problems  in  bewildering  numbers  and 
varieties,  both  administrative  and  pedagogical.  The 
sign  of  progress  is  just  this  fact — that  we  can  survey, 


14  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

name,  and  work  definitely  toward  the  ultimate  solution 
of  these  problems.  Every  State  is  in  some  serious  way 
devising  a  method  and  embedding  it  in  statute  for  pro- 
viding free  high  school  education  for  all  its  boys  and 
girls.  State  recognition  of  its  own  obligation  in  the 
matter  of  high  school  education  is  of  profound  signifi- 
cance. Equally  so  is  the  modern  relation  of  colleges 
and  universities  to  high  schools.  Entrance  require- 
ments are  gradually  coming-  to  have  a  different  educa- 
tional meaning.  Instead  of  externally  imposed  infor- 
mational tests  of  arbitrarily  chosen  subject-matter,  they 
now  are  looked  upon  as  co-operative  devices  which  may 
safely  insure  a  reasonable  standard  of  proficiency  on  the 
part  of  the  graduating  high  school  student,  regardless  of 
the  subject-matter  which  was  used  to  bring  about  this 
proficiency.  College  inspection  of  high  schools  has  ac- 
cordingly changed  its  character  where  it  existed  before 
and  become  a  co-operative  administrative  and  super- 
visory work  of  making  one  educational  institution  more 
successfully  articulate  with  another.  Where  entrance 
examinations  are  still  in  operation  they  have  changed 
their  character  correspondingly. 

Era  for  the  Differentiation  of  Types  of  High  Schools. 
— With  this  impetus  to  become  self-orienting,  the  Amer- 
ican high  schools  have  forsaken  the  earlier  ideal  of  uni- 
formity and  conformity  to  a  standard  type  academically 
conceived  for  them  by  outsiders.  Hundreds  of  high 
schools  now  have  their  own  individuality,  as,  for  different 
reasons,  Grand  Rapids,  Louisville,  or  Richmond,  Ind., 
to  say  nothing  of  the  industrial  and  agricultural  and 
commercial  variations  of  the  type.  An  almost  an- 
alogous issue  to  that  of  separate  kinds  of  high  schools 
is  that  of  the  differentiation  and  multiplication  of  cur- 


SOCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  15 

riculums  within  the  single  high  school  itself.  With 
these  artistic,  domestic,  and  otherwise  vocational  color- 
ings for  our  different  curriculums,  or  high  school  plants, 
as  the  case  may  be,  have  come  inevitably  the  related 
human  obligations.  We  are  face  to  face  with  these 
personal  problems  of  vocational  guidance  and  the  some- 
what less  frequently  formulated  but  probably  more 
fundamental  one  of  avocational  guidance.  Related  in 
turn  to  these  problems,  which  must  find  expression 
finally  through  some  systematic  and  approved  method 
of  high  school  administration,  comes  the  question  of 
how,  in  defined  procedure,  one  is  to  set  about  moral  in- 
struction and  training  which  will  enable  high  school 
students  to  possess  and  obey  a  twentieth-century  moral 
conscience. 

In  short,  the  question  of  secondary  education  is 
uniquely  one  of  how  most  adequately  to  formulate  a 
working  conception  of  the  high  school  organization,  how 
to  extend  its  reach  to  all  our  adolescents,  and  how  to 
refine  our  procedure  in  accordance  with  such  ultimate 
purposes.  The  prime  issue  is  shifting  from  the  literal 
but  important  secondary  question  of  extension  over 
four  years  or  five  or  six  years,  including  upper  grades, 
or  six,  including  first  two  years  of  college;  and  shifting 
from  the  impersonal  and  more  or  less  superficial  problem 
of  how  to  direct  the  academic  procedure  of  imparting 
some  choice  bits  of  information  from  stores  precious  by 
virtue  of  mellowness  of  age  to  that  of  training  the 
students'  powers  as  social  usage  and  our  common  life 
demand.  High  school  education,  however  it  may  differ 
from  other  grades  of  education,  is  not,  in  our  civiliza- 
tion, primarily  a  luxury,  academic  or  otherwise.  It  is 
in  the  broad  social  sense  a  necessity.     Fortunately,  it  at 


16  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

length  burdens  the  community  conscience  and  has  be- 
come the  measure  of  our  educational  democracy. 

Plan  of  the  Book. — The  authors  of  the  following  pages, 
working  under  the  inspiriting  conviction  that  our  Amer- 
ican high  school  is  thus  surely  and  rapidly  becoming 
conscious  of  its  mission,  have  set  forth,  in  as  clear  and 
simple  fashion  as  possible,  instances  and  theories  of 
high  school  activities  in  this  widening  field  of  social 
usefulness  and  influence.  This  volume  represents  an 
attempt  to  make  it  easier  to  think  naturally  of  the  high 
school  as  the  Temple  of  our  Democracy,  with  its  halls 
an  art  museum  (Chapter  XXVIII);  its  debating  teams 
and  supporting  audiences  real  though  miniature  forums 
(Chapter  XIX);  its  playgrounds  and  athletic  fields 
ethical  as  well  as  hygienic  laboratories  (Chapters  XVII 
and  XXVII);  its  classrooms  meetings  where  co-opera- 
tive investigations,  live  discussions,  and  the  application 
of  knowledge  to  living  are  carried  on  as  a  matter  of 
course  (Chapters  VIII,  IX,  X,  and  XI) ;  and  its  student 
organizations  the  wholesome  expression  of  the  best  or- 
ganized student  sentiment  (Chapters  XVI,  XVII,  and 
XVIII).  That  this  is  not  a  dream  the  reader  has  but 
to  study,  with  his  normal  imagination  alert,  the  sugges- 
tions and  doctrines  which  are  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing chapters. 

"High  School  Education,"1  the  forerunner  of  the 
present  volume,  limited  its  field  to  the  special  peda- 
gogies of  all  the  subjects  generally  offered  in  the  modern 
high  school  programme  of  studies.  Only  those  admin- 
istrative and  supervisory  problems  involved  in  such  dis- 
tinctly pedagogical  questions  received  separate  chapter 
treatment. 

'By  Charles  Hughes  Johnston  and  others.    Scribners,  1912. 


SOCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  17 

There  is  an  even  more  urgent  need  for  a  co-operative 
attempt  by  specialists  to  interpret  the  modern  Amer- 
ican high  school  in  its  broad  social  setting.  This  seemed 
to  require  specific  treatments  differentiated  somewhat 
as  the  titles  of  the  thirty  chapters  of  this  book  indicate. 
The  first  few  chapters,  Part  I,  develop  broadly  the  in- 
stitutional relationships  of  the  high  school,  and  the  next 
division  of  chapters,  Part  II,  is  concerned  with  certain 
more  "particularized"  relationships.  The  succeeding 
third  set  of  chapters,  Part  III,  treats  of  certain  definite 
internal  expressions  of  the  social  nature  and  socializing 
function  of  the  high  school.  The  concluding  chapters, 
Part  IV,  somewhat  heterogeneous,  unavoidably,  deal 
with  those  clear  problems  of  the  high  school  which,  al- 
though genuine  enough  and  well  recognized  by  prac- 
tical schoolmen,  nevertheless  present  difficulties  in  the 
matter  of  logical  chapter  sequence. 

This  first  chapter,  Introduction,  and  the  second  chap- 
ter, Part  I,  establish  the  new  setting  for  the  modern 
high  school  and  suggest  promising  fields  for  scientific 
exploration  and  systematic  experimentation.  Chapter 
III  goes  into  the  whole  interesting  field  of  different 
State  movements  looking  toward  providing  without 
exception,  by  ingenious  systems  of  taxation,  high  school 
opportunity  under  favorable  and  even  encouraging  con- 
ditions for  all,  and  Chapter  IV  treats  of  the  "scientific 
management "  of  high  schools  as  "big  business"  enter- 
prises. Chapters  V,  VI,  and  VII  specify  existing  and 
desirable  modes  of  articulation  of  our  idealized  high 
school  with  other  fundamental  agencies  of  civilization. 

Part  II  contains  more  specialized  treatments  of  the 
plans  for  more  delicate  relationships  which  the  high 
school  must  foster  and  develop.     Chapters  VIII,  IX, 


18  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

X,  and  XI,  in  a  sort  of  sequential  relationship  of  treat- 
ment, attempt  to  make  both  learning  and  methods  of 
learning,  information  and  the  art  of  getting  information, 
a  more  social  and  living  procedure  than  it  is  ordinarily 
taken  to  be.  For  years  Dewey  and  those  inspired  by 
him  and  by  other  great  educational  thinkers  have  been 
laying  the  thought  foundations  for  a  system  of  social 
educational  philosophy.  Nothing  to  the  editor  so  suc- 
cessfully illustrates  the  fundamental  thesis  of  Dewey 
as  does  Miss  Williams's  account  of  the  drama  of  an 
actual  classroom  (Chapter  IX).  We  assent  to  the 
theory  of  socializing  all  instruction,  but  without  such  a 
fascinating,  realistic  account  of  the  process,  carried 
through  for  us  to  as  fascinating  details,  before  our  very 
eyes  as  it  were,  we  scarcely  become  thrilled  with  the 
course  our  theory  takes.  These  four  chapters,  em- 
phasizing the  socializing  possibilities  of  intellectual  work 
in  the  school  and  the  relationships  into  which  such  ac- 
tivities involve  our  high  school,  naturally  group  them- 
selves with  the  problems  of  Chapters  XII  and  XIII. 
In  this  section  of  the  volume  the  original  plan  contem- 
plated insertion  of  chapters  upon  each  of  these  topics: 
"The  Civic  and  Social  Duties  of  High  School  Teachers," 
"The  Relation  of  the  High  School  to  the  Home,"  and 
"The  Relation  of. the  High  School  Student  to  the  Ethical 
Standards  of  the  Actual  Professions  and  Trades  of  the 
Community."  Judge  Ben  Lindsay  had  contracted  for 
the  first  of  these,  Principal  William  McAndrew,  of  the 
Washington  Irving  High  School  of  New  York,  for  the 
second,  and  Professor  Matthew  Wilson,  of  Park  Col- 
lege, Missouri,  for  the  third.  Unfortunate  obstacles  pre- 
vented the  intending  authors  of  these  contributions  from 
carrying  out  their  original  intentions.     These  proposed 


SOCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  19 

chapters  are  mentioned  to  indicate  supplementary  topics 
which  may  well  be  taken  up  by  teachers  who  use 
the  volume  as  a  text.  However,  the  topics  of  most  of 
these  proposed  chapters  have  received  incidental  treat- 
ment in  the  other  chapters,  particularly  in  the  chapters 
by  Grice,  Olinger,  and  J.  B.  Davis. 

Part  III  contains  definite  and  separate  chapter  treat- 
ments of  these  differentiated  but  organized  high  school 
activities  which  make  "The  Social  Administration  of 
the  Modern  High  School"  so  promising  and  fascinating 
a  field  for  study  and  experimentation.  Part  IV  is  con- 
cerned throughout  with  those  far-reaching  problems  of 
future  high  school  administration.  Most  of  them  are 
for  the  first  time  included  among  the  specific  duties  of 
the  high  school  administrator.  They  are  genuine  and 
urgent  ones,  however,  and  will  in  time  be  unescapable 
and  accepted  as  a  matter  of  course,  but,  also,  as  a 
mighty  democratic  privilege  and  possibility. 


PART  I 

THE  INSTITUTIONAL  RELATIONSHIPS 
OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

CHAPTER  II 

HIGH  SCHOOL  EDUCATION  AS  A  SOCIAL  ENTERPRISE 
David  Snedden,  Ph.D. 

COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION  FOR  THE  STATE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 

High  School  Central  Agency  in  American  Education. 

— The  central  agency  in  American  secondary  education 
is  the  general  high  school,  receiving  as  pupils  young  per- 
sons who  have  substantially  completed  an  elementary 
school  course,  and  who  range  in  age  from  fourteen  to 
eighteen  years.  The  education  given  is  designed  to  be 
primarily  "general,"  "liberal,"  or  "cultural"  in  its 
nature.  Only  incidental  consideration  is  given  as  yet 
to  vocational  education,  although  an  exception  to  this 
statement  might  be  made  as  to  preparation  for  a  few 
commercial  callings.  There  will  generally  be  found  in 
the  high  school  a  few  students  preparing  for  entrance  to 
college  or  other  higher  institutions.  But,  for  the  large 
majority  of  pupils,  the  high  school  education  is  the  last 
systematic  training  which  they  will  receive. 

Besides  the  public  high  school,  it  is  proper  to  include 
as  agencies  of  secondary  education  private  schools 
fitting  pupils  for  college,  other  private  schools  designed 

20 


EDUCATION   AS   A   SOCIAL   ENTERPRISE        21 

to  meet  existing  special  demands  for  religious  education 
or  education  under  the  conditions  of  a  boarding-school, 
private  commercial  schools,  and  also  various  public  and 
private  vocational  or  quasi-vocational  schools  offering 
industrial,  agricultural,  or  household-arts  education. 
The  words  "High  School"  will,  therefore,  in  this  chapter 
be  employed  in  the  broadest  sense — that  is,  as  including 
not  merely  the  general  public  high  school,  strictly  so 
called,  but  the  numerous  varying  forms  of  public  and 
private  secondary  education,  including  those  whose 
ostensible  aims  are  vocational. 

In  proportion  to  population,  and  taking  account  of 
relative  ages  of  pupils,  the  United  States  has  more 
secondary  schools  and  a  larger  number  of  secondary 
school  pupils  than  any  other  country  in  the  world.  In 
1911-12  the  attendance  in  public  high  schools  was 
1,105,000,  or  somewhat  over  100  to  each  10,000  of  popu- 
lation; while  in  private  schools  of  strictly  secondary 
character  were  approximately  141,000  more.  To  those 
should  be  added  at  least  150,000  more  who  were  attend- 
ing commercial  schools,  industrial  schools,  and  other 
schools  offering  education  of  an  essentially  secondary 
character. 

The  development  of  the  public  high  school  has  been 
especially  rapid.  In  1889-90  there  were  in  public  high 
schools  only  220,000  pupils,  or  36  to  each  10,000  of  popu- 
lation. It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  high  school  at- 
tendance has  increased  during  the  last  twenty-five  years 
approximately  three  times  as  fast  as  population. 

American  communities,  as  a  rule,  take  much  pride  in 
their  public  high  schools.  The  finest  school  buildings 
are  erected  for  their  use.  These  are  often  monumental 
in  character  and  more  costly  than   any  other  public 


22  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

edifice.  Generous  appropriations  are  usually  made  for 
equipment  and  up-keep. 

High  School  Teachers. — High  school  teachers  are 
now,  almost  everywhere,  college  graduates.  During 
the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  owing  to  the  establishment 
of  departments  of  education  in  various  colleges  and  uni- 
versities, an  increasing  proportion  of  high  school  teachers 
have  received  at  least  partial  professional  training  for 
their  work.  Political  and  personal  considerations  have 
in  recent  years  little  weight  as  affecting  the  appoint- 
ment and  tenure  of  high  school  teachers  and  principals. 
Their  status  in  the  community  is  ever  assuming  more  of 
a  professional  character. 

Increase  in  Attendance. — The  secondary  school  was 
originally  designed  for  the  children  of  the  richer  and 
more  cultured  families  in  the  community.  But  the  high 
school  of  the  twentieth  century  is  a  free  school,  open  to 
all  children  who  have  the  ability  to  profit  from  its 
courses  and  attended  by  nearly  all  of  these  who  are  not 
under  the  insistent  necessity  of  giving  their  time  to  the 
earning  of  a  livelihood.  There  are  but  few  parents  now 
who  do  not  have  the  ambition  and  the  ability  to  give 
their  brightest  children  one  or  more  years  of  high  school 
education. 

Vocational  secondary  schools,  now  in  process  of  der 
velopment  in  several  States,  will  provide  in  some  degree 
for  certain  groups  of  young  people  who  are  indifferent 
as  to  obtaining  a  general  high  school  education.  There 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  during  the  next  generar 
tion,  as  better  and  more  varied  opportunities  for  secon- 
dary education  develop,  attendance  will  continue  to 
increase  in  the  same  ratio  as  during  the  last  quarter  of 
a  century. 


EDUCATION   AS   A   SOCIAL   ENTERPRISE         23 

It  is  easily  apparent,  then,  that  secondary  educa- 
tion represents  a  social  enterprise  of  vast  and  rapidly 
growing  proportions.  It  makes  a  profound  appeal  to 
the  American  people.  There  exists,  evidently,  a  far- 
reaching  and  enduring  demand  for  the  efficient  education 
of  adolescent  young  people.  Local  communities  and 
States  are  favorably  disposed  toward  public  high  schools 
of  a  general  and  of  a  vocational  character,  while  numer- 
ous persons  are  still  willing  to  contribute  generously 
toward  various  forms  of  private  secondary  education. 

From  the  standpoint  of  society  at  large,  what  are  the 
reasons  for  the  existing  public  interest  in  secondary 
education?  It  is  obviously  in  part  due  to  the  growing 
prosperity  of  the  American  people  and  to  rising  standards 
of  living  and  culture.  A  constantly  increasing  propor- 
tion of  families  are  able  to  afford  something  more  than 
an  elementary  education  for  their  children. 

Faith  of  Public  in  High  School. — A  more  important 
cause  is  to  be  found  in  the  faith  which  Americans  pos- 
sess as  to  the  social  utility  of  education.  Secondary  edu- 
cation and  college  education  are  now  rarely  regarded  as 
being  primarily  ornamental — luxuries  and  decorations  for 
the  leisure  class.  In  every  community  will  be  found  a 
considerable  number  of  persons  who  hold  firmly  to  the 
conviction  that  a  prolonged  education  during  the  impres- 
sionable years  of  adolescence  is  valuable  for  the  indi- 
vidual and  will  prove  serviceable  for  the  society  of  which 
he  is  a  part. 

But  it  is  obvious  that  this  faith,  however  strong, 
does  not  serve  to  define,  in  any  specific  way,  the  forms 
of  education  best  designed  to  serve  the  ends  desired. 
Often,  under  its  influence,  undue  importance  is  attached 
to  the  historic  instruments  of  secondary  education — the 


24  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

subjects  of  study  which,  because  they  once  possessed 
direct  instrumental  value,  secondary  schools  formerly 
found  highly  valuable,  but  which  are  now  taught  mainly 
because  of  the  ease  with  which  they  can  be  presented. 
In  other  instances  this  faith  tends  in  recent  years  to 
produce  an  intense  interest  in  those  phases  of  training 
which  deal  directly  and  purposefully  with  the  needs  of 
modern  life — the  needs  manifested  by  young  people  for 
more  complete  instruction  in  hygiene,  in  the  respon- 
sibilities of  citizenship,  in  religion,  and  in  personal  con- 
duct. But  this  interest  is,  as  yet,  vague  and  indeter- 
minate as  to  means  and  methods.  In  some  modern 
instances  the  weight  of  this  educational  faith  may  be 
thrown  toward  vocational  training,  as  individuals  and 
communities  begin  to  realize,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
importance,  as  an  asset  in  citizenship,  of  the  possession 
of  sufficient  training  to  enable  each  individual  easily  to 
earn  a  living,  and,  on  the  other,  the  great  obstacles 
offered  by  modern  industry  and  modern  life  to  efficient 
vocational  training,  except  in  schools  especially  designed 
for  that  purpose. 

Functions  of  High  School. — A  few  of  the  functions 
of  the  secondary  school  are  quite  tangible.  Pupils  are 
fitted  for  colleges  and  other  higher  agencies  of  learning 
largely  along  the  lines  designated  by  these  institutions. 
Commercial  courses  now  give  a  limited  number  of  boys 
and  girls  the  training,  at  least  in  part,  required  for 
certain  clerical  and  commercial  pursuits. 

Other  functions  now  performed  are  less  definite  but 
no  less  real.  Attendance  on  a  secondary  school  is  in 
many  cases  the  only  alternative  to  idleness  or  irregular 
employment.  It  is  certain  that  the  steady  occupation  of 
an  adolescent  youth  in  studies  which  are  not  so  exacting 


EDUCATION   AS   A   SOCIAL  ENTERPRISE         25 

as  to  impair  physical  growth  saves  him  from  the  de- 
moralizing effects  of  non-employment.  During  the  high 
school  period  students  are  commonly  surrounded  by  rela- 
tively wholesome  social  influences  and  are  induced  to 
share  in  physical  exercises  contributing  to  bodily  de- 
velopment to  an  extent  that  is  not  usually  practicable 
for  a  person  not  participating  in  school  life.  The  con- 
tributions thus  made  to  the  fuller  social  and  physical 
development  of  the  individual  are  real  and  of  great 
importance. 

Actual  Value  of  Studies. — With  regard  to  the  actual 
value  of  the  studies  pursued,  and  for  the  administration 
and  conduct  of  which  the  school  primarily  exists,  there 
is  as  yet  less  certainty.  The  historic  conception  of  the 
secondary  school  involved  primarily  the  notion  of  an 
educational  agency  making  certain  offerings,  the  actual 
value  of  which  the  school  did  not  undertake  to  guaran- 
tee. For  suitable  considerations,  the  school  gave  instruc- 
tion in  Latin,  Greek,  mathematics,  and  other  subjects 
as  demanded.  It  undertook  to  prepare  pupils  to  pass 
college-entrance  examinations  as  these  were  set  up  by 
the  higher  institutions.  Where  sufficient  demands  de- 
veloped, it  gave  instruction  in  French,  German,  book- 
keeping, shorthand,  and  manual  training.  The  historic 
secondary  school,  while  having  great  faith  in  the  educa- 
tional value  of  these  subjects  of  study,  rarely  undertook 
to  evaluate  them  in  terms  of  any  form  of  social  utility, 
being  content  to  satisfy  what  seemed  to  be  a  persistent 
public  demand. 

The  secondary  school  has,  obviously,  always  offered 
to  young  persons  who  are  naturally  disposed  toward 
intellectual  activities  some  opportunities  to  gratify  and 
to  develop  these  interests.    The  instructors  have  often 


26  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

been  inspiring  and  personally  helpful  to  students  of  this 
character;  while  the  libraries  and  other  resources  of  the 
schools  have  made  intellectual  activity  easily  possible. 
It  has  been  historically  true,  therefore,  that  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  persons  who  have  attained  to  intellectual 
leadership,  and  who  early  manifested  strong  inclinations 
in  that  direction,  have  found  in  the  secondary  school 
opportunities  of  a  helpful  kind,  even  apart  from  the 
actual  studies  pursued.  Young  persons  of  exceptional 
native  ability,  and  especially  those  having  good  oppor- 
tunities for  culture  and  training  in  their  homes,  have 
readily  accepted  the  programme  of  instruction  offered  by 
secondary  schools,  and  brought  to  their  studies  such 
valuable  personal  resources  as  to  render  certain  some 
sort  of  satisfactory  outcome  in  respect  to  the  establish- 
ment of  intellectual  interests  and  the  development  of 
intellectual  powers.  A  large  proportion  of  these  young 
persons  who  are  so  gifted  by  nature  as  to  render  it  prob- 
able that  they  will  in  all  probability  become  leaders 
have  naturally  gravitated  into  secondary  schools.  The 
secondary  school,  therefore,  has  performed  a  large  social 
service  when  it  has  selected  and  given  encouragement  to 
these  persons,  even  though  its  programme  of  instruction 
may  have  had  little  distinguishable  bearing  on  their 
future  achievements. 

But  for  the  large  majority  of  secondary-school  pupils 
who  possess  only  average  ability  and  but  moderate  power 
of  intellectual  initiative  the  actual  value  of  the  studies 
pursued  has  been  hitherto  largely  a  matter  of  faith. 
The  records  of  exceptional  pupils  have  served  to  inspire 
in  parents  the  hope  and  belief  that  for  their  children  of 
mediocre  ability,  also,  the  school  would  be  able  to  do 
what  it  had  appeared  so  easily  to  do  for  others.     Yet 


EDUCATION   AS   A   SOCIAL   ENTERPRISE        27 

the  more  carefully  the  high  school  curriculum  as  a  means 
of  efficient  education  is  studied  the  less  certain  do  edu- 
cators become  as  to  its  actual  useful  functioning. 

In  general,  then,  secondary  education,  as  historically 
organized  and  as  enormously  developed  during  recent 
decades,  has  measurably  justified  itself  as  a  social  enter- 
prise by  creating  opportunities  for  social  and  physical 
development  for  a  large  proportion  of  its  pupils,  by 
meeting  the  specific  educational  needs  of  special  groups, 
/  by  discovering,  inspiring,  and  generally  assisting  those 
of  exceptional  native  ability,  and  by  developing  and 
diffusing  a  faith  in  prolonged  education.  The  certain 
achievements  of  the  American  system  of  secondary  edu- 
cation along  these  lines,  combined  with  the  growing 
capacity  and  disposition  of  parents  to  prolong  the  edu- 
cation of  their  children,  account  for  the  prominent  place 
now  held  by  the  public  high  school  and  other  agencies 
operating  in  the  same  general  field. 

Results  Unsatisfactory. — But  in  spite  of  the  rapid 
growth  of  secondary  education  and  especially  of  the 
public  high  school,  it  is  a  matter  of  common  observation 
that  results  are  far  from  satisfactory,  and  criticisms  of 
a  fundamental  character  are  frequent  and  positive. 
There  is  a  wide-spread  conviction  that  the  programmes 
and  processes  of  secondary  education  are  essentially 
traditional,  that  there  has  been  no  satisfactory  effort  to 
evaluate  them  in  terms  of  modern  social  demand  or 
need,  and  that  the  scientific  spirit  is  as  yet  insufficiently 
in  evidence  among  those  who  make  the  commonly  ac- 
cepted programmes  and  direct  the  prevailing  practices 
in  these  schools. 

Demand  for  a  More  Vital  Education. — A  public  de- 
mand, not  always  articulate  perhaps,  for  a  more  vital 


28  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

and  more  "functioning"  education  prevails.  Citizens 
no  less  than  serious  students  of  education  are  becoming 
distrustful  of  customary  practices  which  rest  largely  on 
faith  and  hope.  Some  historic  and  much-cherished  ed- 
ucational dogmas,  especially  as  to  the  superior  merit  of 
the  classical  academic  subjects  for  purposes  of  "mental 
training"  and  as  to  the  comparative  unserviceableness  of 
vocational  training  are  now  being  seriously  questioned. 
The  departments  of  Education  in  American  colleges  and 
universities,  most  of  which  have  come  into  active  exis- 
tence during  the  last  twenty-five  years,  are  contributing 
to  the  popular  unrest  through  their  disposition  to  ascer- 
tain scientifically  the  actual  aims  and  achievements  of 
all  forms  of  education  which  have  hitherto  rested  largely 
on  custom. 

This  demand  has  been  reinforced  by  the  contribu- 
tions which  have  recently  been  made  to  the  general  and 
popular  conceptions  of  the  educational  possibilities  of 
adolescent  youth.  On  the  one  hand,  the  study  of  the 
psychology  of  adolescents  and,  on  the  other,  the  devel- 
opment of  more  generous  and  richer  conceptions  of 
education  as  a  factor  in  modern  social  economy  have 
aided  in  giving  us  a  vision  of  the  more  purposeful, 
more  scientific,  and  more  flexible  secondary  education 
which  is  among  the  possibilities  of  the  future. 

Reorganized  Secondary  Education  Based  on  Knowl- 
edge of  Broader  Social  Economy. — Recognizing  that 
the  present  is  essentially  a  period  of  transition,  espe- 
cially in  secondary  education,  it  should  obviously  be  the 
object  of  each  constructive  student  of  the  subject  to 
forecast  as  definitely  as  practicable  the  probable  future 
lines  of  development  of  the  various  phases  of  that  edu- 
cation.    Clearly,    as    regards    its    aims,    a    reorganized 


EDUCATION  AS   A   SOCIAL   ENTERPRISE        29 

secondary  education  must  be  based  more  and  more 
definitely  upon  a  sound  knowledge  of  the  broader  social 
economy;  that  is,  of  the  processes  by  which  society  is, 
with  increasing  purposefulness,  working  toward  a  more 
satisfactory  state  of  well-being  for  human  beings,  in- 
dividually and  collectively.  It  is  also  certain  that  the 
material  and  methods  to  be  employed  in  realizfng  these 
aims  must  in  larger  measure  than  hitherto  be  founded 
upon  a  knowledge  of  the  learning  capacities  and  learn- 
ing processes  of  adolescent  youth. 

Sociology  and  Psychology. — It  is  true  that  sociology 
and  the  kindred  social  sciences  upon  which  a  scientific 
social  economy  must  be  built  are  yet  in  very  immature 
stages  of  development;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that 
psychology  also,  notwithstanding  the  attention  it  has 
received  in  recent  years,  can  yet  contribute  but  little  of 
positive  suggestion  to  the  organization  of  the  material 
and  methods  of  secondary  education. 

Precedents  in  Other  Fields  of  Applied  Science  and 
Art. — Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the  unsatisfactory  con- 
dition of  some  of  the  sciences  from  which  secondary 
instruction  and  training  as  fields  of  practice  should  be 
able  to  derive  useful  materials  in  the  shape  of  principles, 
laws,  and  explanations,  much  may  yet  be  done  of  a 
scientific  and  constructive  nature  by  studying,  without 
prejudice,  the  individual  educational  problems  that  may 
be  recognized  and  isolated  for  consideration.  In  other 
fields  of  human  effort  it  is  obvious  that  this  has  been 
done  with  excellent  results,  and  educators  possessed 
of  the  scientific  spirit  will  more  and  more  tend  to  do  the 
same  in  education. 

In  the  development  of  the  arts — such,  for  example, 
as    the  working  of  metals,   the  making  of  explosives, 


30  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  manufacture  of  fabrics,  the  building  of  bridges,  the 
healing  of  disease,  and  the  tilling  of  the  soil,  wherein 
advanced  methods,  resting  on  definite  scientific  knowl- 
edge, now  largely  obtain — there  were  formerly  long 
periods  when  substantial  progress  was  made  mainly  by 
methods  which  were  essentially  scientific,  although  as 
yet  such  sciences  as  physics,  chemistry,  and  biology  had 
not  reached  a  stage  where  positive  contributions  to 
these  arts  could  be  obtained  from  them.  It  is,  in  the 
same  way,  even  now  possible  to  employ  the  methods 
and  spirit  of  scientific  inquiry — freedom  from  biassing 
preconceptions,  analysis,  exact  (and  quantitative)  de- 
scription, and  experimentation — to  the  problems  of 
secondary  education,  notwithstanding  that  sociology 
and  psychology  can  as  yet  render  little  direct  service. 

In  some  cases  experience  and  general  knowledge  have 
evolved  to  the  point  where  results  of  a  fairly  definite 
character  as  affecting  secondary  education  seem  even 
now  to  be  available.  Several  examples  of  comparatively 
modern  development  may  be  cited. 

Physical  Education. — Within  recent  years  the  sub- 
ject of  physical  education  has  been  receiving  unusual 
attention.  The  conviction  has  grown  that  by  system- 
atic training  and  instruction  it  is  possible  to  promote 
physical  growth  and  strength,  to  improve  and  conserve 
health,  and  so  to  instruct  in  the  knowledge  and  ideals 
of  physical  well-being  as  to  make  these  results  persist 
for  the  life  of  the  individual.  But  it  was  long  questioned 
whether  physical  education  was  a  legitimate  function  of 
the  secondary  school.  True,  many  secondary  schools 
were  also  schools  of  residence,  and  consequently  the 
play,  rest,  and  other  features  of  the  daily  regimen  of  the 
pupils  required  consideration,  for  disciplinary,  if  for  no 


EDUCATION   AS   A   SOCIAL  ENTERPRISE        31 

other,  reasons.  But  in  general  it  has  not  long  been 
held  that  physical  education  constituted  an  essential 
and  legitimate  division  of  organized  secondary  educa- 
tion. Physical  education  is  important,  it  has  been  ad- 
mitted, but  it  was  contended  that  it  belonged  to  the 
home  and  to  other  agencies  than  the  school. 

Clearly,  it  should  now  be  possible,  in  the  light  of  con-' 
temporary  experience,  to  study  this  particular  phase  of 
secondary  education  with  some  approach  to  sound 
methods.  If  it  be  once  admitted  that  it  is  essentially 
the  function  of  the  secondary  school  to  give  to  a  prede- 
termined class  of  adolescents  such  systematic  education 
as  will  be  most  needed  for  sound  living,  and  which  other 
private  or  public  agencies  cannot  give  satisfactorily, 
then,  as  regards  the  recognition  of  physical  education  as 
a  phase  of  secondary  education,  certain  quite  specific 
problems  are  presented  for  examination.  To  what  ex- 
tent for  all  adolescents  or  for  definable  groups  of  them 
is  any  one  of  various  types  of  physical  education  a 
valuable  thing,  both  as  regards  the  usefulness  of  the  in- 
dividual to  society  and  his  usefulness  to  himself?  To 
what  extent  does  such  education  possess  social  value 
greater  or  less  than  that  possessed  by  other  phases  of 
education  which  might  have  to  be  displaced  if  physical 
education  is  to  receive  due  attention  and  time?  Are 
the  means  and  methods  of  such  education  such  as  ren- 
der it  practicable  for  the  secondary  school  as  now  con- 
stituted? To  what  extent  and  in  what  respects  must 
the  secondary  school  reorganize  its  historic  structure  if 
it  is  seriously  to  embrace  the  new  purpose? 

It  is  obvious  that  already  public  sentiment,  if  not 
public  opinion,  is  forcing  a  study  of  this  question  and, 
as  well,  modifications  of  historic  practice  into  secondary 


32  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

schools.  Control  and  direction  of  athletics;  systematic 
instruction  in  hygiene;  improvement,  through  sugges- 
tion, of  the  physical  environment  of  the  pupil  at  home  and 
in  the  school — all  these,  however  fragmentary  in  organi- 
zation and  variable  in  treatment,  nevertheless  now  rep- 
resent fairly  well  accepted  phases  of  physical  education. 
The  contemporary  demand  is  sufficient,  at  least,  to 
suggest  to  all  students  of  the  public  high  school  the  de- 
sirability of  systematic  inquiry  as  to  the  place,  scope, 
and  methods  of  sound  physical  education  in  a  programme 
of  secondary  education. 

r  Vocational  Education. — A  similar  situation  is  to  be 
found  in  connection  with  what  is  now  called  vocational 
education.  The  conviction  has  almost  suddenly  de- 
veloped in  recent  years  that  society  should  somehow 
guarantee  to  its  young  people  provision  for  systematic 
training  toward  the  exercise  of  a  calling  or  vocation. 
Deserving  especial  consideration  is  that  large  majority 
of  young  people  who  must  embark  upon  self-support 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  seventeen.  The  recent 
progress  of  the  study  of  society  has  clearly  shown  that, 
excepting  in  rare  instances,  the  vocational  training  of 
these  young  people  has  hitherto  of  necessity  been  left 
largely  to  the  ill-regulated  efforts  of  private  agencies. 
Public  interest  in  vocational  education  has  hitherto 
manifested  itself  chiefly  in  the  efforts  of  philanthropists 
and  others  to  provide  vocational  schools  for  destitute  or 
defective  young  persons.  Appreciation  of  the  desirable 
results  to  be  attained  by  educating  apprentices  has  oc- 
casionally induced  large  employers  to  establish  special 
trade  or  technical  schools.  Only  the  wider  vision  of  the 
modern  social  economy  reveals  the  comparative  futility 
of  these  partial  efforts  and  brings  into  relief  the  enormous 


EDUCATION  AS  A  SOCIAL  ENTERPRISE        33 

social  need  of  vocational  training,  under  some  form  of 
public  control  and  support,  if  the  larger  well-being  of 
young  persons  is  to  be  assured. 

We  now  no  longer  question  the  need  of  vocational 
education.  Nor  do  we  now  dispute  as  to  the  desirability 
of  its  public  control  and  support  if  the  machinery  of  our 
educational  organization  is  adequate  to  its  administra- 
tion. Within  a  few  years  educational  leaders  everywhere 
have  passed  on  to  the  consideration  of  the  practical 
problems  of  publicly  managed  vocational  schools.  Ways 
and  means,  methods  and  processes,  now  claim  chief  at- 
tention. It  appeared  to  some  that  vocational  educa- 
tion was  an  entirely  new  and,  as  it  were,  alien  type  of 
training  which,  if  carried  on  in  proximity  with  general 
or  liberal  education,  tended  to  nullify  the  good  effects  of 
the  latter.  Others  of  limited  vision  early  insisted  that 
vocational  education  possessed  a  value  far  transcending 
that  of  the  historic  school  education  and  should,  wher- 
ever possible,  be  made  to  supersede  the  latter. 

A  saner  view  now  prevails.  It  is  clear  to  every  cool 
student  of  the  subject  that  vocational  education  is 
simply  one  phase  or  type  of  education,  that  it  has  legiti- 
mate place  for  pupils  of  appropriate  age  and  power, 
and  that  the  question  of  its  conjunction  with  or  separa- 
tion from  liberal  education  is  essentially  one  of  admin- 
istrative expediency.  It  is  now  clearly  practicable  for 
any  one  to  study  in  a  genuinely  scientific  manner  the 
problems  of  vocational  education  as  a  phase  of  modern 
social  economy  and  to  evaluate  and  place  that  form  of 
education  in  a  complete  scheme  of  publicly  supported 
schools.  This  is  not  only  true  so  far  as  the  aims  of 
vocational  education  are  concerned;  we  are  rapidly  ap- 
proaching a  time  when,  in  a  scientific  way,  we  shall  be 


3-i  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

able  to  inquire  into  the  most  successful  methods  and 
means  of  such  training  and  by  successive  stages  improve 
the  quality  of  the  work  offered  in  vocational  schools. 

Social  Education  Not  Consciously  Developed. — In 
other  quarters  we  have  before  us  to-day  a  somewhat 
similar  situation  as  regards  that  kind  of  education,  the 
controlling  purpose  of  which  is  to  form  those  particular 
habits,  to  inspire  those  particular  ideals,  and  to  give 
that  particular  knowledge  which  contributes  positively 
and  effectively  to  the  beUerment  of  the  relationships  of 
individuals,  whether  these  be  on  the  plane  of  every-day 
morals  and  manners  or  on  those  levels  of  citizenship 
relating  to  the  exercise  of  the  suffrage  and  the  perform- 
ance of  the  more  complex  social  duties.  Education  to 
this  end — variously  called  moral,  ethical,  civic,  or  social 
education,  and  appropriate  to  the  demands  of  a  dem- 
ocratic civilization  inspired  with  a  scientific  attitude 
toward  life — has  not  yet  found  conscious  development 
anywhere. 

It  is  true  that  the  secondary  school,  the  college,  and 
even  the  elementary  school  constantly  assert  that  one 
of  their  chief  purposes,  if  not  their  controlling  purpose, 
is  education  for  citizenship.  An  examination  of  the 
means  and  methods  employed,  however,  will  disclose 
the  fact  that  nowhere  are  programmes  or  processes  con- 
sciously and  purposefully  adjusted  to  this  alleged  end. 
In  other  words,  in  so  far  as  social  education  as  a  name 
is  held  by  our  educational  institutions,  it  operates  usu- 
ally as  a  vision  or  hope  or  article  of  faith  and  almost 
nowhere  as  a  conscious  purpose  controlled  by  scientific 
methods. 

But  modern  social  economy  clearly  reveals  the  need, 
especially  under  the   conditions  of   modern    social  de- 


EDUCATION   AS   A   SOCIAL   ENTERPRISE        35 

velopment,  of  a  purposeful  social  education.  Our  knowl- 
edge of  psychology  certainly  reveals  its  possibilities.  We 
know  that  at  successive  periods  in  history  a  social  edu- 
cation adapted  to  the  needs  of  particular  times  and 
places  has  been  elaborated,  as  witness  the  education 
under  various  military  despotisms,  under  religious  and 
crafts  guilds,  and  in  primitive  republics.  The  general 
ends  of  social  education,  therefore,  can  to-day  be  stated 
in  terms  more  or  less  scientific.  We  have  reached  the 
stage  when  experimental  studies,  classes,  and  schools 
are  possible. 

Need  of  a  More  Purposeful  Cultural  Education. — 
Finally,  we  may  note  that  in  the  large  fields  of  education 
pre-empted  by  the  historic  secondary  school,  namely, 
culture  and  mental  discipline,  it  is  no  longer  necessary 
for  us  to  rely  merely  upon  the  faiths  and  dogmas  that 
have  grown  up  about  historic  school  practices.  Mental 
discipline  in  its  various  phases  presents  a  series  of 
tangible  aims  which  are  certainly  capable  of  realiza- 
tion within  limits,  although  probably  to  no  such  degree 
and  by  no  such  means  as  educators  have  often  too  easily 
assumed.  Culture,  too,  that  vague  and  at  times  ap- 
parently evanescent  goal  of  education,  should  be  recog- 
nized as  being  at  bottom  an  essentially  composite  affair, 
and  a  systematic  study  of  the  various  processes  by  which 
it  is  to  be  achieved  is  certainly  possible.  There  are 
good  reasons  for  supposing  that  a  part  of  the  obvious 
failure  of  the  modern  high  school  system  as  a  "function- 
ing" educational  agency  is  due  to  the  fact  that  even  in 
the  fields  of  culture  and  mental  discipline — those  which 
it  had  primarily  pre-empted  for  itself — the  high  school 
fails  to  give  valid  and  tangible  results  in  return  for  the 
time,  money,  and  devotion  invested  in  it.     There  can 


36  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

be  no  question  but  that  a  careful  analytical  study  of 
such  educational  purposes  as  the  production  of  specific 
forms  of  mental  training  and  of  specific  phases  of  culture 
can  be  made. 

A  Reorganization  Needed. — Consideration  of  the  con- 
ditions surrounding  contemporary  secondary  school  edu- 
cation clearly  indicates  that  within  the  near  future  there 
must  be  a  reorganization  of  the  stated  aims  and  processes 
involved  in  such  education.  To  this  end  certain  steps 
or  stages  of  operation  are  of  fundamental  importance. 

In  the  first  place,  the  secondary  school  must  discon- 
tinue its  historic  practice  of  describing  its  aims  in  terms 
of  the  mastery  of  subject-matter.  It  is  necessary  that 
there  be  enforced  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the 
mastery  of  the  subject-matter  is,  after  all,  but  an  educa- 
tional means  toward  the  attainment  of  higher  and  more 
real  social  utilities. 

In  the  second  place,  the  secondary  school  must  be 
able  to  formulate  its  aims  in  terms  of  concrete  social 
utilities  as  these  are  defined  and  expressed  by  modern 
social  economy.  The  third  consideration  is  that  the 
extent  to  which  concrete  social  utilities  shall  be  set  up 
as  aims  and  the  scope  of  the  education  designed  to 
attain  these  ends  shall  be  interpreted  in  terms  of  the 
needs  and  possibilities  of  various  groups  of  young  people 
able  to  profit  therefrom. 

Finally,  having  defined  aims  and  the  scope  to  which 
each  one  of  these  is  to  be  developed  in  practice,  the 
secondary  education  of  the  future  must  deliberately  set 
to  work  to  devise  by  analysis  and  experimental  methods 
the  means  and  methods  of  realizing  these  aims. 

Traditional  Subjects  Discussed  in  Regard  to  Their 
Social  Utility. — The  foregoing  demands  suggest  certain 


EDUCATION   AS   A   SOCIAL   ENTERPRISE        37 

programmes  that  may  be  here  tentatively  described  for 
the  sake  of  discussion.  It  has  long  been  apparent  to 
careful  students  that  some  of  the  so-called  traditional 
subjects  of  secondary  education  have  no  direct  utility 
in  themselves,  and  hence  it  has  become  a  favorite  prac- 
tice on  the  part  of  the  advocates  of  these  subjects  to 
defend  them  on  the  ground  of  derived  or  accessory 
values  of  a  more  or  less  mystical  nature.  It  is  freely 
acknowledged  that  the  ability  to  speak  or  to  write  Latin, 
or  even  freely  to  translate  it,  can  have  little  or  no  sig- 
nificance for  the  large  majority  of  educated  persons  in 
the  twentieth  century.  But  the  proponents  of  that 
subject  have  long  ago  ceased  to  urge  its  value  for  these 
purposes,  and  have  resorted  to  vague  and  mystical  ex- 
planations as  to  its  value  in  promoting  more  efficient 
expression  in  English,  in  promoting  knowledge  of  past 
eras  of  civilization,  and  in  making  for  mental  discipline. 
The  time  has  surely  arrived  when  each  one  of  these 
alleged  social  utilities  should  be  clearly  defined,  and  the 
actual  contributions  of  the  extensive  study  of  Latin  to 
each  one  should  be  made  a  matter  of  experimental  test. 

Similarly,  the  American  secondary  school  has  long 
given  front  rank  to  the  study  of  algebra.  The  place 
and  intensive  character  of  this  study  have  long  been 
matters  of  tradition.  When,  however,  the  specific  ques-  \ 
tion  is  asked  as  to  why  the  study  of  algebra  should  be 
pursued  by  girl  pupils  in  the  high  schools,  it  becomes 
readily  apparent  that  there  is  no  rational  ground  for 
recognizing  any  value  in  this  subject  as  an  end  in  itself. 
In  other  words,  a  knowledge  of  algebra  by  and  of  itself 
is  not  a  social  utility  for  girl  pupils  so  far  as  available 
evidence  shows. 

But,  following  historic  practice,  the  advocates  of  this 


38  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

subject  now  insist  that  it  has  some  derivative  value  in 
training  mental  powers,  in  giving  insight  into^the  world 
of  practical  affairs,  or  in  promoting  one  form  or  another 
of  practical  efficiency.  All  of  these  reasons  are  still 
shrouded  in  the  language  of  educational  mysticism,  and 
quite  fail  to  appeal  to  the  scientific  temper. 

The  foregoing  may  represent,  possibly,  somewhat  ex- 
treme examples  taken  from  the  present  secondary 
school  programme.  Nevertheless,  in  a  large  degree,  the 
implied  criticisms  given  above  apply  to  substantially 
every  subject  of  secondary  school  curriculum.  The 
knowledge  of  ancient  history  as  imparted  in  an  ordinary 
course  of  that  subject  cannot  be  defined  as  a  social 
utility.  The  same  is  true  of  the  study  of  physics  as 
ordinarily  pursued  or  the  study  of  chemistry.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  defenders  of  French  and  German 
as  secondary  school  subjects  have  long  debated  vigor- 
ously as  to  the  educational  value  of  these  subjects. 

Dominant  Social  Utilities. — The  second  proposition 
given  above  was  that  we  have  now  reached  a  period 
when  the  secondary  school  must  discover  ways  and 
means  of  studying  and  expressing  its  purposes  and  the 
scope  and  character  of  the  desirable  methods  to  be  em- 
ployed in  achieving  these  purposes  in  terms  of  definite 
and  tangible  social  utilities.  Here  it  must  be  confessed 
that  modern  social  economy  does  not  as  yet  give  the 
help  that  perhaps  we  have  a  right  to  expect.  Social 
utilities  are  of  almost  innumerable  kinds.  As  now  de- 
scribed, they  tend  to  fuse  into  vague  wholes.  But  it  is 
easily  possible  to  recognize  at  least  four  large  groups  of 
social  utilities  which  comprise  almost  the  entire  field  of 
possible  educational  effort.  These  groups  are:  (a) 
Those  social  utilities  pertaining  to  physical  well-being; 


EDUCATION   AS   A   SOCIAL   ENTERPRISE        39 

(b)  those  pertaining  to  vocational  efficiency;  (c)  those 
pertaining  to  civic  or  social  capacity;  and,  finally,  (d) 
those  relating  to  personal  culture. 

Each  one  of  these  groups  may  be  analyzed  into  a  large 
number  of  constituent  elements,  any  one  of  which  may 
to  an  appropriate  degree  be  made  an  end  of  systematic 
school  education. 

Need  of  Flexible  Programme.- — The  third  principle, 
namely,  that  the  complete  programme  of  secondary  edu- 
cation must,  to  an  indefinite  extent,  be  flexible,  so  as  to 
present  a  wide  range  of  opportunities  for  young  persons 
varying  as  to  native  capacity,  acquired  interests,  and 
economic  possibilities  in  life,  has  already  found  some 
acceptance  in  contemporary  secondary  education.  But 
the  flexibility  now  existing,  as  manifested  in  alternative 
and  elective  courses,  is  not  intelligently  based  upon  a 
due  recognition  of  the  needs  of  definable  groups  of  pupils; 
it  is  a  hit-or-miss  affair,  undirected,  and  essentially 
opportunist  in  character.  When  we  shall  be  obliged  to 
develop  a  general  programme  of  secondary  education 
more  extensive  than  that  which  now  exists  and  so  varied 
as  to  include  the  opportunities  for  vocational  and  social 
education  as  well  as  more  extended  facilities  than  now 
exist  for  cultural  training,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  in 
large  schools  the  opportunities  for  providing  individual 
programmes  of  instruction  purposefully  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  well-defined  groups  of  pupils  will  be  almost 
endless. 

It  is  not  practicable  to  give  here  more  than  a  few  il- 
lustrations of  these  possibilities.  One  conspicuous  fea- 
ture is  to  be  found  in  the  further  development  of  a 
tendency  now  beginning  to  manifest  itself  to  look  on 
the  age  of  sixteen  as  a  suitable  time  for  the  termination 


40  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

of  the  secondary  education  of  a  considerable  number  of 
young  persons  whose  economic  and  other  opportunities 
necessitate  an  early  entrance  on  productive  life.  Be- 
tween fourteen  and  sixteen,  for  some  persons  at  least, 
secondary  education  should  be  predominantly  vocational. 
For  others  it  might  well  be  almost  exclusively  cultural,  in 
the  expectation  that  after  the  age  of  sixteen  participation 
in  productive  industry  will  offer  sufficient  opportunities 
for  vocational  training.  At  the  present  time  no  sub- 
stantial recognition  is  held  out  to  pupils  who  are  capable 
of  completing,  with  a  fair  degree  of  credit,  two  years  of 
secondary  education,  but  for  whom  a  four  years'  pro- 
gramme is,  in  view  of  their  economic  or  other  limita- 
tions, practically  out  of  the  question. 

Again,  in  connection  with  part-time  vocational  edu- 
cation, extending,  among  older  pupils,  into  systematic 
evening  instruction,  are  also  to  be  found  possibilities  of 
flexible  programmes  of  cultural  as  well  as  vocational 
education.  A  well-developed  secondary  school  system 
may  be  expected  to  offer  large  opportunities  not  only  to 
those  having  an  abundance  of  time  to  take  advantage  of 
them  but  also  to  persons  circumscribed  by  the  neces- 
sities of  daily  occupation.  Physical  education,  special 
forms  of  aesthetic  or  cultural  education,  and  civic  train- 
ing may  well  enter  into  all  these  programmes. 

It  is  easily  apparent,  however,  that,  unless  the  ex- 
pansion and  the  diversification  of  secondary  education 
can  be  carried  out  in  a  systematic  way  on  the  basis  of 
methods  carefully  analyzed  and  subjected  to  experi- 
mental tests,  educational  chaos  may  follow.  It  is  un- 
questionably true  that  vast  sums  of  money  are  now 
being  wasted  in  promoting  forms  of  secondary  education 
that  are  barren  of  substantial  results.     The  enthusiasm 


EDUCATION  AS   A   SOCIAL   ENTERPRISE       41 

of  a  people  possessed  of  great  faith  in  education  and 
eager  to  meet  the  responsibilities  of  democratic  govern- 
ment may  easily  lead  to  an  enormous  expenditure  of 
time,  energy,  and  money  in  fruitless  effort,  unless  the 
principles  of  scientific  efficiency  can  be  progressively 
applied.  This  must  then  be  essentially  a  primary  char- 
acteristic of  future  secondary  education  as  a  social 
enterprise  if  it  is  to  conform  to  our  ideals  of  democracy, 
social  economy,  and  science.  It  must  be  an  education 
largely  characterized  by  purposefulness,  by  a  clear  dis- 
crimination as  to  the  social  utilities  to  be  obtained,  and 
by  a  comprehensive  and  scientific  mastery  of  the  means 
and  methods  by  which  valuable  results  are  to  be  realized. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  LEGAL  STATUS  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

James  Howard  Hanger,  A.M. 

SUPERINTENDENT   Of   SCHOOLS,   ROSSVILLE,   KANS. 

Some  Shortcomings  of  the  American  High  School. — 

The  present  wide-spread  movement  to  give  free  secondary 
education  throughout  the  United  States  is  of  great 
social  significance.  This  movement  indicates  the  pres- 
ence of  a  more  truly  democratic  spirit  in  education.  It 
is  the  direct  outgrowth  of  the  idea  of  equality  upon 
which  our  government  rests  and  is  the  spontaneous  ex- 
pression of  our  nineteenth  and  twentieth  century  social 
reconstruction.  The  public  school  is  the  means  by  which 
a  free  democracy  perpetuates  itself.  Unless  this  mech- 
anism— the  school — be  accessible  to  all  it  falls  short  of 
the  needs  and  the  demands  of  a  truly  democratic  society. 
Perhaps  no  one  to-day  who  is  at  all  in  touch  with  the 
public  school  situation  would  maintain  that  the  school 
system  is  accomplishing  what  we  have  a  right  to  expect 
it  to  accomplish.  To  state  that  our  public  schools  are 
the  best  possible  schools  would  be  to  display  one's  utter 
ignorance  of  the  conditions  existing  in  them,  no  less 
than  of  the  possibilities  of  the  public  school  as  evidenced 
by  such  countries  as  Germany.  But  too  few  educators 
even  have  seen  the  underlying  principles  of  our  public 
educational  system  in  their  full  significance.     We  have 

42 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    43 

taken  for  granted  the  fact  that  the  schools  are  providing 
the  means  for  a  broad  equality  for  all  who  come  within 
their  doors,  and  few  have  looked  deeply  enough  to  be 
able  to  criticise,  and  too  few  of  these  have  had  the 
temerity  to  raise  their  voices  in  protest  at  the  failures 
disclosed.  The  incompetency  of  superintendents,  prin- 
cipals, and  teachers  of  the  whole  school  system,  which 
permits  an  appalling  waste  of  our  social  assets,  certainly 
should  challenge  attention.  The  hundreds  and  even 
thousands  of  boys  and  girls  who  thus  drop  out  annually 
are  hopelessly  lost  to  the  best  in  our  civilization. 

A  discussion  of  the  various  shortcomings  of  the  Amer- 
ican school  is  beyond  the  province  of  this  chapter;  suf- 
fice it  to  say  that  it  is  not  touching,  by  any  means,  more 
than  a  small  fraction  of  those  whom  it  should  touch,  nor 
has  it  proved  itself  capable  of  holding  those  intrusted 
to  its  charge.  Failure  on  the  part  of  the  school  author- 
ities to  provide  suitable  programmes  of  study  and  other 
means  for  social  adjustment  is  largely  responsible  for 
this  result.  The  many  boys  and  girls  who  annually 
drop  out  of  our  public  schools,  entering  "blind-alley" 
occupations,  or  worse,  idling  away  their  golden  hours 
upon  the  street,  constitute  a  most  serious  indictment 
of  the  present  system.  The  loss  to  society  at  this  point 
is  appalling,  and  means  simply  that  the  expenditure  by 
the  community  upon  these  individuals  is  largely  a  social 
waste.  The  school,  by  proper  adjustment,  certainly 
should  stop  this  leakage  and  conserve  all  such  possibil- 
ities to  the  state.  This  may  be  accomplished  by  proper 
legislation  directed  either  toward  the  raising  of  the  com- 
pulsory school-age  limit  or  toward  providing  continua- 
tion schools  for  those  who  have  gone  out  into  their  life- 
work.     Unless  the  public  school  does  maintain  a  hold  on 


44  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

each  individual  child  until  he  can  either  "find  himself" 
or  be  prepared  in  some  measure  to  gain  a  livelihood,  it 
is  a  failure.  The  school  may  even  become  a  menace  to 
its  community  when  it  serves  as  a  " blind"  to  its  patrons, 
and  by  its  vain  show  tricks  them  into  believing  that  it 
is  fulfilling  its  purpose  and  realizing  their  aims.  The 
recent  attempt  on  the  part  of  Wisconsin  to  secure 
better  service  from  her  schools  is  very  significant  in 
this  respect.  By  her  provision  for  the  appointment  of 
an  expert  commission  for  the  investigation  of  the  school 
problems  of  the  State,  and  by  her  adoption  of  a  law 
making  attendance  at  some  continuation  school  com- 
pulsory up  to  the  age  of  seventeen,  she  has  taken  a 
unique  place  among  the  States  of  the  Union,  and  has 
set  a  high  mark  toward  which  other  States  might  well 
direct  their  efforts.  This  movement,  first  developed  in 
the  better  schools  of  our  large  cities  as  exemplified  rather 
notably  in  the  schools  of  Kansas  City,  Kans.,  under 
the  direction  of  Superintendent  M.  E.  Pearson,  is  a 
harbinger  of  the  better  days  to  come  in  rural  education, 
and  of  the  larger  opportunity  for  those  driven  early 
into  the  fight  of  life.  Such  a  movement  is  the  result  of 
our  new  conception  of  our  responsibility  socially  to  each 
individual  member  of  the  state. 

Schools  Must  Be  Well  Financed. — But  no  institution 
can  be  efficient  unless  it  be  well  financed.  No  matter 
how  great  the  efficiency  of  teachers  nor  how  expert  the 
ability  of  the  executive  officers  the  school  cannot  do  its 
best  work  while  in  cramped  quarters  or  while  fighting  for 
existence.  In  order  that  it  may  become  an  efficient  social- 
izing instrument,  doing  well  its  work  of  equipping  each 
individual  child  for  service  in  life,  the  public  school 
system  must  be  placed  upon  a  firm  financial  basis.    But 


< 


THE   LEGAL   STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL     45 

the  public  school  in  very  many  States  is  to-day  under 
a  most  serious  handicap  because  of  its  lack  of  financial 
support.  This  lack  of  support  is  due  in  many  cases  not 
so  much  to  indifference  on  the  part  of  patrons  as  to  the 
unscientific  methods  employed  and  to  the  inefficient 
laws  under  which  the  schools  of  many  States  are  com- 
pelled to  labor.  The  present  is  demanding  in  many 
communities  every  available  resource  for  the  education 
of  the  youth;  the  future  must  be  even  more  insistent. 
With  the  new  avenues  open  everywhere  to  greater  com- 
munity service  and  to  better  training  of  students  for 
life-work  there  must  be  constantly  increasing  funds  if 
the  work  is  to  be  well  done.  Centralization  of  equip- 
ment and  transportation  of  the  student  must  figure 
largely  in  our  final  solution,  but,  whatever  the  method 
of  procedure  toward  betterment,  it  is  clearly  evident 
that  a  radical  change  must  be  effected  both  in  the  manner 
of  securing  and  in  the  manner  of  distribution  of  funds. 
The  best  results  cannot  be  secured  under  the  system  of 
taxation  now  in  vogue  throughout  the  greater  part  of 
the  United  States.J  (To  secure  such  results  there  must 
be  a  most  careful  scrutiny  of  methods  employed  at  every 
point,  from  the  levying  of  the  tax  to  the  expenditure  of 
the  school  funds.  .  The  present  methods  of  providing 
revenue  are  the  haphazard,  outgrown  methods  of  a  past 
age  and  are  not  worthy  of  our  enlightened  citizenship. 
They  are  undemocratic  because  the  burden  of  taxation 
is  not  equalized,  some  localities  being  overloaded  with 
the  weight  of  the  levy  while  others  escape  entirely. 
When  any  district  can  rely  upon  its  railroad  tax  to  carry 
on  its  school,  it  is  unfair  to  the  "other  fellow,"  and 
when  an  entire  Kansas  district  with  a  two-million- 
dollar  property  valuation  can  escape  a  school  levy  en- 


46  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

tirely  because  it  happens  to  have  no  school,  it  is  time 
for  a  readjustment  in  order  to  give  to  all  a  "  square  deal." 
When  a  Wisconsin  district,  by  a  stingy  policy  toward 
its  school,  can  succeed  in  robbing  and  starving  its  pupils 
to  the  extent  of  laying  up  a  yearly  bank  account  from 
the  funds  appropriated  to  it  by  the  State,  it  should  be 
some  one's  business  to  stand  by  those  children  and  see 
that  they  get  a  "square  deal."  When  any  district  has 
had  its  crops  blighted  year  after  year  and  finds  it 
impossible  to  carry  on  its  school  until  better  times  come, 
it  is  high  time  for  some  of  the  others  to  "go  in  to  the 
rescue."  In  the  report  issued  by  the  New  York  Bureau 
of  Municipal  Research  on  the  conditions  and  needs  of 
the  rural  schools  of  Wisconsin,  the  opinion  is  advanced 
that  the  "distribution  of  school  funds  is  not  the  factor 
it  should  be  in  effective  educational  improvement," 
because  it  "gives  no  premium  to  the  efficient  school; 
it  offers  no  inducement  to  the  district  to  bring  all  chil- 
dren to  school  who  should  be  there;  or  keep  them  in 
school  after  they  are  enrolled ;  it  disregards  the  necessity 
of  efficient  teachers;  it  permits  the  expenditure  of  school 
money  without  providing  adequate  control  that  the  pur- 
pose of  the  expenditure  shall  be  accomplished;  it  sup- 
plies the  machinery  for  education  but  ignores  the  pur- 
poses; as  long  as  the  State  demands  that  all  children  of 
school  age  must  attend  school  it  assumes  the  responsibil- 
ity of  furnishing  schools  that  make  of  the  children  useful 
and  capable  citizens."  1  Coming  as  they  do  from  a 
body  of  careful  investigators,  these  indictments  carry 
great  weight. 

Report  on  the  Conditions  and  Needs  of  the  Rural  Schools  of 
Wisconsin  by  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  of  New  York  City, 
1912. 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS  OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    47 

Need   of   Revision   of   Our   Present   Methods. — Dr. 

Cubberley1  also  finds  a  clear  case  against  the  present 
system  of  taxation  and  distribution.  In  the  nine  Cali- 
fornia counties  investigated  he  found  the  minimum  levy 
to  be  .44  of  a  mill,  and  the  maximum  levy  3.18  mills 
on  each  dollar  of  assessed  valuation,  the  average  for  the 
State  being  but  1.22  mills.  Nine  Wisconsin  counties 
varied  from  .72  to  11.57  mills,  the  average  for  the  State 
being  1.95  mills.  Thirty-seven  Massachusetts  towns 
varied  from  .36  to  11.62  mills,  and  ten  Indiana  counties 
from  1.76  to  10.41,  the  State  average  being  but  2.99. 
This  inequality  in  matters  of  taxation  seems  to  exist 
throughout  the  United  States.  The  following  brief 
table  of  four  Kansas  counties  indicates  clearly  the  con- 
dition in  that  State.  These  counties  were  chosen 
because  their  location  would  serve  to  bring  out  the 
great  variation  due  to  differences  in  wealth  per  capita 
and  crop  conditions,  and  the  relation  of  these  to  the 
school  levy.  Nemaha  County  is  situated  in  the  extreme 
northeastern  part  of  the  State;  Shawnee  in  the  east- 
central  part,  a  portion  of  it  being  rich  Kaw  Valley  land. 
These  two  counties  rank  among  the  foremost  of  the 
State,  both  as  to  the  amount  of  annual  rainfall  and  as 
to  the  per-capita  wealth.  Lane  and  Seward  Counties 
are  in  the  ''short-grass"  country,  the  former  being  in 
the  west-central  part  of  the  State,  the  latter  in  the  ex- 
treme southwestern.  Nothing  could  show  more  forcibly 
the  need  of  a  revision  of  our  present  methods  than  a 
comparison  of  these  counties. 

The  data  for  the  above  counties  include  the  data  of 
twelve  joint  districts  in  Nemaha  County  and  one  each 
in  Shawnee  and  Lane.    The  levies  in  these  joint  districts 

1  Cubberley,  E.  B.,  "  School  Funds  and  Their  Apportionment,"  p.  53. 


48 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


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THE   LEGAL   STATUS   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    49 

do  not  show  the  extremes  that  are  to  be  found  in  the 
single  districts,  the  minimum  for  1910  being  one  mill 
and  the  maximum  3.8  mills.  This  would  indicate  that 
the  larger  tax  unit  made  it  possible  to  get  adequate 
results  with  a  comparatively  low  levy.  According  to 
the  data  for  Shawnee  County,  Topeka  maintained  her 
costly  school  system  on  a  lower  levy,  6.10  mills,  than 
did  Oakland,  a  suburb,  whose  levy  was  10  mills.  Ross- 
ville,  with  her  so-called  Barnes  Law  High  School,  has  a 
levy  of  only  6  mills.  This  is  possible  because  of  the 
fact  that  the  county  at  large  supports  this  school  to  a 
great  extent,  thus  adding  a  straw  to  the  load  carried  by 
each  district  of  the  county.  In  this  respect  the  Barnes 
Law  is  not  ideal,  although  it  often  makes  it  possible  for 
the  weaker  community  to  establish  and  maintain  a  high 
school  which  otherwise  it  could  not  do.  In  Nemaha 
County  one  striking  fact  is  observed.  In  19 10  one 
district  levied  a  tax  of  16  mills  while  three  other  districts 
levied  no  tax  at  all,  the  average  for  the  county  being 
only  1.83  mills.  In  Seward  County  the  interesting  fact 
is  observed  of  a  district  making  a  higher  levy  year  after 
year  for  the  payment  of  the  interest  on  its  bonds  than 
for  the  running  expenses  of  its  school,  the  former  being 
11  mills  in  1908,  the  latter  7.4 — a  total  of  18.4  mills  on 
each  dollar  of  assessed  valuation.  A  fact  observed  in 
Lane  County  is  that  in  1908  there  were  eight  districts 
which  did  not  support  a  school.  In  191 2  this  number 
had  doubled,  due  presumably  to  crop  conditions.  Ob- 
viously a  considerable  number  of  children  are  either 
deprived  entirely  of  school  privileges  on  account  of  this 
fact,  or  they  are  compelled  to  go  long  distances  to  se- 
cure them.  In  191 2,  in  Seward  County,  a  "school-dis- 
trict aid  tax"  made  its  appearance  as  a  county  tax. 


50  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

This  was  evidently  the  result  of  a  desire  to  extend 
school  advantages  to  those  deprived  of  them.  In  gen- 
eral, it  is  to  be  noted  that,  although  the  counties  are  of 
approximately  the  same  size,  there  are  many  fewer 
districts  in  the  western  counties  as  compared  with  the 
eastern,  Nemaha  having  132  to  Seward's  28  in  1910. 
The  tax  rate,  however,  is  much  higher  in  the  western 
counties,  Nemaha  having  an  average  rate  of  1.83  mills 
as  compared  with  Seward's  4.82  mills  in  this  same  year. 
The  fewer  districts  result  in  a  much  greater  number  of 
children  having  no  school  near  at  hand,  this  resulting  in 
a  lower  enrolment  of  the  school  population  and  in  a 
smaller  attendance  in  days  of  those  enrolled.  Under 
the  existing  conditions  in  these  two  sections  of  the  State 
the  logical  plan,  if  followed,  would  reverse  the  present 
tax  rates  for  the  two  sections.  At  any  rate,  it  is  clear 
that  the  existing  method  does  not  adequately  provide  for 
all  the  children  of  the  State  nor  does  it  "square  up"  with 
our  present  ideas  of  democratic  procedure  and  justice. 

That  much  the  same  conditions  exist  in  each  of  the 
States  of  the  Union  can  be  at  best  merely  indicated  by 
our  brief  survey  of  the  system  in  force  in  each.  No 
adequate  treatment  can  be  attempted  in  the  allotted 
space.  The  attempt  has  been  made  to  get  the  present 
status  of  affairs  in  perspective  before  the  mind  of  the 
reader,  and  also  to  bring  the  treatment  of  each  State 
up  to  date  by  a  necessarily  somewhat  superficial  ex- 
amination of  the  school  laws  as  passed  in  the  various 
States  by  the  more  recent  legislatures.  In  the  matter 
of  grouping,  much  the  same  order  has  been  observed 
as  that  used  by  Dr.  Edwin  R.  Snyder.1 

Snyder,  "Legal  Status  of  the  Rural  High  School,"  Contributions 
to  Education,  Columbia  University,  1909. 


THE  LEGAL  STATUS   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    51 

Maine. — In  187 1  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Maine 
passed  a  law  providing  for  State  aid  to  high  schools,  this 
being  the  first  attempt  on  the  part  of  any  State  to  ex- 
tend aid  for  the  purpose  of  providing  free  secondary,  or 
high  school,  education.  This  law  provided  that  the 
State  should  pay  annually  an  amount  equal  to  the 
amount  provided  by  local  taxation  for  such  a  free  high 
school  up  to,  but  not  to  exceed,  $500.  Before  the  close 
of  1873  134  high  schools  had  complied  with  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act  and  received  State  aid.  Many  of 
these  schools  had  been  academies  in  their  earlier  ex- 
istence, but  had  been  converted  into  high  schools  in 
order  to  secure  the  State  appropriation.  The  total 
amount  of  State  funds  disbursed  in  this  year  was  $29,- 
135.  In  1878  the  number  of  high  schools  had  increased 
to  150,  with  a  total  enrolment  of  11,849,  and  with  a 
total  State  subsidy  of  $35,827.86.  In  1879  the  law  was 
amended  and  thereafter  no  school  could  receive  an 
amount  to  exceed  $250.  In  1890  there  were  210  high 
schools  which  received  aid  from  the  State,  with  a  total 
enrolment  of  15,299.  In  the  next  ten  years  the  number 
of  schools  increased  to  214,  the  enrolment  having  de- 
creased to  13,338.  This  slight  increase  in  the  number 
of  schools  and  an  actual  decrease  in  the  total  enrol- 
ment seems  to  have  been  due  to  the  introduction  of  a 
State  system  of  examinations.  In  1907  the  number  of 
high  schools  receiving  State  aid  had  increased  to  230, 
with  an  enrolment  of  13,124,  and  receiving  a  State  sub- 
sidy of  $45,104.  Since  1891,  and  continuing  for  ten 
years  14  academies  were  granted  $500  each,  2  $800 
each,  and  1  $300.  In  1905  a  law  was  passed  providing 
that  any  town  which  did  not  support  a  high  school 
must  pay  the  tuition  of  its  students  who  were  attend- 


52  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ing  an  accredited  high  school  in  a  neighboring  town. 
In  no  case  could  this  payment  exceed  $30  per  student, 
the  State  agreeing  to  reimburse  any  such  town  to  the 
amount  of  one  half  of  such  tuition. 

Provision  for  free  text-books  and  apparatus  for  the 
use  of  high  schools  was  made  in  1897.  Under  the  pro- 
vision of  a  law  passed  in  1909  the  teaching  of  manual 
training,  domestic  science,  and  agriculture  in  academies 
is  encouraged.  State  aid  to  the  amount  of  $250  for 
each  course  is  provided.  The  law  of  1901  also  provides 
a  State  subsidy  of  $500  to  schools  maintaining  teacher- 
training  courses,  there  being  13  high  schools  and  acad- 
emies receiving  such  aid  in  191 1. 

Wisconsin. — Wisconsin  was  the  second  State  to  grant 
a  subsidy  to  high  schools.  In  1875  a  law,  which  fol- 
lowed very  closely  the  law  previously  passed  by  Maine, 
was  passed  in  Wisconsin.  This  provided  for  a  maxi- 
mum subsidy  to  any  school  of  $500.  In  1879  the  num- 
ber of  schools  receiving  State  aid  was  88,  with  an  enrol- 
ment of  6,693,  ancl  witn  a  total  State  subsidy  of  $25,000. 
Under  this  law  free  tuition  was  provided  for  the  non- 
resident pupil  by  his  own  district.  A  change  made  in 
the  law  by  the  legislature  of  1897  giymg  State  aid  to 
those  schools  only  which  were  operated  in  buildings  not 
used  for  other  school  purposes  resulted  in  a  decrease 
both  in  the  number  of  high  schools  and  in  the  number 
of  students  enrolled.  In  1880  there  were  only  78  high 
schools  receiving  State  aid  and  the  enrolment  had 
dropped  to  5,393.  In  1885  State  supervision  was  pro- 
vided for.  In  1895  a  law  was  passed  appropriating  $250 
each  to  10  high  schools  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of 
manual-training  departments,  and  in  1897  this  number 
was  increased  to  20.    The  annual  appropriation  also  for 


THE   LEGAL   STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL     53 

free  high  schools  was  increased  to  $100,000.  In  1907 
the  law  regarding  State  aid  for  manual-training  work  was 
amended,  and  thereafter  the  State  provided  funds  up  to 
one  half  the  cost  of  such  department.  Wisconsin  pro- 
vided also  for  the  establishment  of  county  agricultural 
schools.  The  original  act  provided  for  the  establish- 
ment of  but  2,  but  by  1907  the  number  had  increased, 
and  the  legislature  of  that  year  made  appropriations 
for  8  schools  in  all.  Four  thousand  dollars  was  made 
the  limit  of  the  appropriation  to  any  one  school.  Wis- 
consin also  authorizes  county  training-schools  for 
teachers,  6  of  these  being  in  existence  in  191 1.  Gradu- 
ates of  these  schools  receive  special  consideration  as  to 
certification,  their  diploma  being  equivalent  to  a  five- 
year  certificate  to  teach,  under  certain  conditions. 

The  effect  of  these  appropriations  is  strikingly  shown 
by  the  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  four-year  schools, 
and  in  the  constant  elimination  of  the  two  and  three 
year  schools.  Wisconsin  has  taken  another  decided  step 
forward  by  the  recent  passing  of  a  compulsory  continu- 
ation school  law. 

Minnesota. — The  law  passed  by  Minnesota  in  1878, 
providing  for  State  aid  to  high  schools,  followed  closely 
the  laws  of  its  predecessors.  The  amount  of  the  State 
subsidy  provided .  for  was  $400  for  each  school.  This 
amount  remained  unchanged  for  more  than  twenty 
years.  This  law  was  an  improvement  upon  those  of 
Maine  and  Wisconsin  in  that  no  definite  amount  was 
required  to  be  raised  by  local  taxation.  In  1881  the 
law  was  revised  so  as  to  permit  the  establishment  of 
public  high  schools  in  cities,  in  incorporated  towns,  or  in 
townships.  These  schools  were  required  to  admit  pupils 
free  of  tuition  from  any  part  of  the  State.     By  the  laws 


54  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

of  1899  and  1 901  those  schools  entitled  to  State  aid 
were  classified  as  follows:  (1)  State  high  schools.  (2) 
State  graded  schools.  (3)  State  semi-graded  schools. 
(4)  State  rural  schools.  The  State  high  school  must 
maintain  school  for  nine  months  in  the  year,  and  was 
entitled  to  $1,000  annually.  The  State  graded  schools 
were  entitled  to  $400  annually,  the  semi-graded  $200 
annually.  Should  the  State  appropriation  at  any  time 
be  too  small  to  cover  the  demands  of  all  these  schools, 
it  must  be  prorated  among  them.  In  1903  the  amount 
of  subsidy  to  State  high  schools  was  raised  to  $1,500, 
to  State  graded  schools  to  $550,  and  to  semi-graded 
schools  $250.  In  1895  the  amount  of  State  subsidy 
given  to  those  schools  offering  special  training  to  teachers 
was  $500,  which  amount  was  increased  in  1903  to  $750. 
This  legislation  resulted  in  an  increase  of  high  schools 
during  the  decade  following  1896  from  99  to  192,  the 
enrolment  increasing  from  11,038  to  22,106.  In  1913 
a  law  provided  that  tuition  in  the  agricultural  and  in- 
dustrial courses  established  in  high  schools  in  1909 
should  be  free  to  resident  pupils,  and  $2.50  per  month 
be  charged  to  non-resident  pupils,  this  to  be  provided 
by  the  pupil's  home  district.  State  aid  to  the  amount 
of  $2,500  annually  was  granted  to  these  schools,  and  in 
addition  a  bonus  of  $150  for  each  district  which  united 
with  the  central  high  school  district. 

North  Dakota. — From  the  time  of  its  admission  into 
the  Union  North  Dakota  provided  for  the  organization 
of  special  district  high  schools.  These  schools  were  at 
first  supported  entirely  by  local  taxation.  In  1895  a 
law  was  passed  similar  to  that  of  Minnesota,  with  the 
exception  that  there  was  no  provision  made  for  State 
aid.     In  1899  this  law  was  reconstructed  in  such  a  way 


THE   LEGAL   STATUS   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    55 

as  to  give  the  State  high  school  board  power  to  classify 
the  high  schools  into  the  first,  second,  and  third  class. 
Schools  of  the  first  class  were  required  to  give  four  years 
of  work,  and  were  entitled  to  receive  from  the  State  $175 
annually.  Those  of  the  second  class  were  required  to 
give  three  years  of  work,  and  were  entitled  to  receive 
$140  annually.  Those  of  the  third  class  were  to  give 
two  years  of  work,  being  entitled  to  receive  $100  annually 
from  the  State.  In  1903  the  amount  of  State  subsidy 
for  the  first,  second,  and  third  class  schools  was  in- 
creased to  $400,  $300,  and  $200  respectively.  In  1905 
these  amounts  were  increased  still  further  to  $800,  $500, 
and  $300  respectively.  It  might  be  stated  in  passing 
that  the  legislatures,  almost  without  exception,  have 
failed  to  make  the  appropriations  large  enough  to  meet 
these  demands. 

Pennsylvania. — Pennsylvania  is  another  State  which 
has  followed  very  closely  the  plan  of  Maine  in  regard  to 
State  aid  to  high  schools.  In  1895  a  law  was  passed 
providing  for  the  establishment  and  aid  of  the  smaller 
high  schools.  According  to  this  law  schools  of  the  first 
class  were  entitled  to  $800  annually,  those  of  the  second 
class  $600  annually,  and  those  of  the  third  class  $400. 
But,  following  out  the  usual  order  of  wisdom  of  the 
average  State  legislature,  no  appropriation  was  made  to 
fulfil  the  provisions  of  the  act,  and  not  until  six  years 
later,  or  in  1901,  was  there  any  money  available  for 
these  schools.  In  1901,  however,  an  appropriation  of 
$25,000  was  made  for  this  purpose,  this  being  increased 
in  1903  to  $50,000,  and  in  1905  to  $100,000.  This  law 
of  Pennsylvania  has  certain  very  serious  defects  in  re- 
spect to  its  administration.  First,  it  provides  for  no 
adequate  supervision  of  schools  by  State  authorities. 


56  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Second,  the  legislatures  have  uniformly  failed  to  provide 
sufficient  appropriations  to  fulfil  the  requirements  of 
the  act.  For  schools  of  the  first  class,  for  instance,. while 
being  entitled  to  receive  $800  annually,  the  average 
State  subsidy  for  the  six  years  following  1902  was  only 
$532.  Schools  of  the  second  class,  being  entitled  to 
$600,  have  received  an  average  subsidy  of  $399  during 
the  same  period  of  time.  Schools  of  the  third  class,  en- 
titled to  $400  annually,  have  received  an  average  sub- 
sidy of  $266.  Despite  these  defects  the  growth  of  high 
schools  in  Pennsylvania  has  been  remarkable,  the  num- 
ber increasing  from  76  in  1902  to  301  in  1907.  In  191 1 
the  legislature  passed  a  law  authorizing  the  establish- 
ment of  county  high  schools,  these  schools  (if  any  should 
be  established)  to  be  open  even  to  resident  pupils  only 
upon  payment  of  tuition. 

Massachusetts. — For  a  great  many  years  Massa- 
chusetts attempted  to  secure  grammar-school  instruc- 
tion for  all  by  a  system  of  coercion  directed  toward  her 
towns.  As  early  as  1647  a  legal  requirement  was  made 
of  each  town  of  one  hundred  families  to  furnish  gram- 
mar-school instruction.  In  1789  this  requirement  had 
lessened  so  that  it  applied  only  to  towns  of  two  hundred 
families.  By  1824  the  requirement  had  been  reduced 
so  that  practically  every  town  of  less  than  one  thousand 
families  was  exempt.  In  1826  the  legislature  ordered 
that  every  town  of  four  thousand  inhabitants  should 
maintain  a  high  school  of  the  first  grade;  towns  of  five 
hundred  families  a  high  school  of  second  grade.  This 
requirement  in  regard  to  second-class  high  schools  was 
soon  repealed;  was  restored  in  1836;  repealed  again  in 
1840;  and  again  re-enacted  in  1848.  By  this  time  the 
movement  for  free  high  schools  had  received  consider- 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    57 

able  impetus,  and  in  1852  there  were  64  high  schools; 
by  1876  this  number  had  increased  to  216,  and  the  later 
growth  has  been  in  corresponding  ratio. 

In  1 89 1  the  State  made  a  decidedly  new  step  when  it 
ordered  that  free  high  school  tuition  should  be  the  legal 
right  of  every  child.  By  this  act  every  town  must  pro- 
vide high  school  opportunities  either  by  establishing  its 
own  school  or  by  providing  free  tuition  for  such  as  would 
attend  in  a  neighboring  town.  By  the  law  of  1902  any 
town  of  less  than  five  hundred  families  and  with  a 
property  valuation  of  less  than  $750,000  was  entitled  to 
receive  from  the  State  the  entire  amount  expended  for 
tuition  of  pupils  attending  a  neighboring  school.  If 
such  town  had  a  property  valuation  to  exceed  $750,000 
the  State  reimbursed  it  to  the  amount  of  one  half  of 
such  tuition;  and  any  such  town  of  less  than  five  hun- 
dred families  and  employing  two  or  more  teachers  was 
entitled  to  receive  $300  annually  from  the  State.  By 
the  law  of  1906  the  two-teacher  high  school  was  not  en- 
titled to  State  aid.  In  191 1  the  law  of  1902  was  amended 
and  the  property  valuation  was  placed  at  $1,000,000, 
the  other  provisions  remaining  the  same. 

New  York. — The  State  of  New  York  makes  use  of 
a  plan  somewhat  similar  to  those  previously  described. 
Several  different  funds  are  provided  by  the  State  in  aid 
of  secondary  education.  The  literature  fund  is  a  fund 
to  be  applied  entirely  in  support  of  secondary  educa- 
tion. The  library  fund  may  be  participated  in  by  the 
academic  departments  of  cities,  academies,  and  union 
districts.  These  funds  are  apportioned  as  follows: 
each  city,  each  union  district,  and  each  non-sectarian 
academy  complying  with  the  regulations  of  the  Regents 
of  the  University  of  New  York  is  entitled  to  receive 


58  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

$100  for  each  academic  department  maintained.  In 
addition  to  this  lump  sum  each  non-sectarian  private 
academy  is  entitled  to  receive  from  the  State  an  amount 
not  to  exceed  the  amount  raised  locally  for  books,  pic- 
tures, and  apparatus,  such  amount  not  to  exceed  $250 
annually.  Each  union  school  district  maintaining  an 
academic  department  may  receive  under  the  same  con- 
ditions an  amount  not  to  exceed  $268  for  any  one  year 
and  $2  additional  for  each  teacher  employed.  After 
providing  in  a  similar  way  for  academic  departments  in 
cities,  for  tuition  for  non-resident  pupils,  and  for  li- 
braries in  common-school  districts,  the  remainder  of 
the  fund  is  apportioned  upon  the  basis  of  attendance 
of  the  academic  pupils.  The  secondary  schools  receive 
aid  further  in  the  following  manner:  Each  district  having 
an  assessed  valuation  of  $20,000  or  less  shall  receive 
$200;  each  district  with  a  valuation  of  $40,000  or  less 
shall  receive  $175;  each  district  with  a  valuation  of 
$60,000  or  less  shall  receive  $150;  and  each  remaining 
district  shall  receive  $125.  The  law  further  provides 
that  each  district  is  entitled  to  receive  $100  for  each  ad- 
ditional teacher  after  the  first,  also  for  the  payment  of 
the  tuition  up  to  $20  of  non-resident  pupils.  Teacher- 
training  departments  receive  $700  annually  from  the 
State  also,  there  being  ninety  of  these  in  191 2. 

As  to  the  success  of  this  plan,  the  1905  report  of  Dr. 
Andrew  S.  Draper,  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the 
State  of  New  York,  reads  as  follows:  "What  is  known 
as  the  literature  fund  was  established  in  aid  of  second- 
ary education  in  1790.  The  stream  made  a  fine  start, 
and  it  has  gathered  volume  in  its  progress.  The  State 
appropriation  for  the  purpose  is  now  $250,000  annually. 
The  State  appropriations  from  1793  to  1904  were  $4,523,- 


THE  LEGAL  STATUS  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL    59 

983.  The  total  expenditures  of  the  system  up  to  1904 
have  been  $104,583,413.  The  system  has,  of  course, 
seen  its  most  marvellous  growth  in  the  last  twenty-five 
years.  In  1880  the  extent  of  the  State  aid  was  $43,000 
and  the  total  expenditures  for  the  secondary  schools 
were  $1,013,780.  In  1890  the  State  aid  was  $107,559, 
and  the  total  cost  of  the  system  was  $2,341,956.  In 
1904  the  State  aid  was  $312,368,  and  the  total  expendi- 
tures were  $8,111,369.  In  1893  there  were  47,799  in  our 
secondary  schools,  and  in  1905  there  were  95,096.  The 
secondary  school  system  is  evenly  distributed  over  the 
State  for  it  has  schools  in  every  county." 

By  the  report  of  1908  the  apportionment  for  the  year 
ending  September  30,  1907,  was  as  follows: 

For  quota  of  $100  to  each  non-sectarian  secondary- 
school  $65,600.00 

For  tuition  of  non-resident  students 88,608.46 

For  library  books,  apparatus,  and  pictures 142,569.35 

For  attendance  of  academic  students 255,411.96 

Total $552,189.77 

That  the  law  regarding  free  secondary  education  in 
New  York  is  far  from  ideal  is  clearly  indicated  by  these 
facts,  gathered  from  the  report  of  the  commissioner  of 
education  for  1908.  The  average  per-capita  cost  of 
secondary  education  in  high  schools  for  1907  was  $80.87. 
In  academies  of  the  State  for  the  same  year  the  aver- 
age per-capita  cost  was  $179.97.  The  maximum  amount 
permitted  to  these  schools  by  the  State  as  a  State  sub- 
sidy was  but  $20  per  capita.  Again,  the  per-capita 
cost  of  academic  students  is  from  $3  to  $5  greater  in 
villages  than  in  cities.     Since  the  cities  are  permitted 


60  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

at  present  to  charge  tuition  according  to  their  per- 
capita  cost  of  instruction,  the  ultimate  result  must  be 
that  the  poorer  student  financially  will  be  forced  either 
into  the  poorer  schools  of  the  small  town  or  out  of 
school  entirely. 

Rhode  Island. — The  State  law  of  Rhode  Island  grant- 
ing aid  to  high  schools  is  similar  to  that  of  New  York,  and 
was  passed  in  1898.  This  law  provides  that  any  town 
maintaining  a  high  school  and  offering  an  approved 
course  of  study  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  annually 
from  the  State  $20  for  each  of  the  first  25  pupils  in  aver- 
age attendance,  and  $10  for  each  of  the  second  25  pupils 
in  average  attendance.  Any  town  not  maintaining  a 
high  school  and  which  makes  provision  for  the  free  at- 
tendance of  its  children  at  some  approved  high  school 
or  academy  is  entitled  to  receive  State  aid  for  each  pupil 
on  the  same  basis  as  if  it  maintained  its  own  high  school. 
In  1900  permission  was  granted  to  the  school  committee 
of  any  town  to  pay  for  the  transportation  of  pupils  to  a 
neighboring  school.  In  1903  the  legislature  abolished 
all  school  districts  and  vested  the  administration  of  all 
schools  in  the  town.  This  law  provides  also  for  the 
uniting  of  two  or  more  towns  forming  any  district  for 
high  school  purposes.  While  these  laws  place  a  pre- 
mium to  some  extent  upon  increased  attendance  in  high 
school,  they  do  not  encourage  the  establishment  of  local 
high  schools.  In  191 1  the  amount  of  State  aid  for  the 
first  twenty-five  pupils  in  average  attendance  was  in- 
creased from  twenty  dollars  to  twenty-five,  and  for  the 
second  twenty-five  pupils  from  ten  to  fifteen  dollars. 

New  Hampshire. — The  method  for  State  aid  to  high 
schools  in  New  Hampshire  is  somewhat  similar  to  the 
one  followed  by  New  York.     An  important  exception 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    61 

is  in  the  matter  of  flexibility  of  administration.  The 
State  fund  consists  of  a  literary  fund  and  an  equaliza- 
tion fund,  the  latter  consisting  of  an  annual  appropria- 
tion of  $25,000.  Twenty-five  per  cent  of  this  amount, 
plus  an  additional  $10,000,  is  devoted  to  the  aid  of 
supervision  in  the  poorer  towns.  The  remainder  of  the 
equalization  fund,  $18,750,  is  apportioned  only  to  such 
towns  as  have  a  valuation  of  less  than  $3,000  for  each 
child  of  the  average  attendance  in  the  public  schools, 
and  to  such  other  towns  as  may  be  added  to  the  list 
upon  recommendation  of  the  State  superintendent.  This 
fund  is  apportioned  to  these  towns  in  direct  proportion 
to  their  average  attendance  and  in  inverse  proportion 
to  the  equalized  valuation  per  child.  In  1906  the  amount 
received  by  the  various  towns  and  districts  from  the 
equalization  fund  varied  from  $1.10  to  $4.88  per  capita. 
The  literary  fund  in  1906  amounted  to  $36,931,  which 
was  apportioned  to  towns  and  other  school  districts  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  pupils  in  attendance  upon 
their  public  schools  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  two 
weeks.  The  amount  thus  received  was  only  fifty-seven 
cents  per  student,  and  is  so  small  as  to  be  of  no  value 
as  a  State  aid  to  high  school  instruction.  In  1901  the 
legislature  passed  an  act  compelling  all  towns  not  sup- 
porting a  high  school  or  a  school  of  similar  grade  to  pay 
the  tuition  of  children  in  attendance  at  any  approved 
high  school  or  academy  in  the  State.  The  act  provided 
also  for  the  reimbursement  of  the  poorer  towns  in  amounts 
varying  from  ten  to  one  hundred  per  cent  of  the  amounts 
actually  expended  for  such  tuition,  this  being  dependent 
upon  the  rate  of  taxation  both  for  school  purposes  and 
for  general  purposes. 

In  1909  the  basis  of  State  aid  was  changed  to  an  equal- 


62  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ized  valuation  per  student  basis.  The  towns  of  group 
I  were  those  having  a  property  valuation  of  $2,000 
or  less  per  pupil  in  average  daily  attendance.  Such 
towns  received  a  State  aid  of  $1.75  per  school  week  for 
each  twenty-five  pupils.  Group  II  included  those  towns 
with  a  valuation  of  $2,000  to  $3,000  per  pupil,  and  being 
entitled  to  $1.50  per  week  for  such  group.  Group  III 
included  towns  of  $3,000,  to  $4,000  per  pupil,  each  being 
entitled  to  $1.25  per  week  per  group  of  twenty-five. 
Group  IV  included  towns  of  $4,000  to  $5,000  valuation 
per  pupil,  each  being  entitled  to  $1  per  group.  Group 
V  included  towns  of  $5,000  to  $7,000  valuation  per  pupil, 
each  town  being  entitled  to  $0.75  per  group  of  twenty- 
five.  A  further  aid  to  high  schools  was  provided  in  the 
shape  of  a  bonus  for  each  normal  school  graduate  em- 
ployed in  the  school  as  a  teacher,  each  one  being  worth 
$2  per  week.  Schools  employing  graduates  of  schools 
of  equal  rank  with  the  normal  are  also  entitled  to  receive 
this  amount  of  State  aid. 

Vermont. — In  1876  Vermont  passed  a  law  permitting 
districts  to  contract  with  academies  for  the  education 
of  their  pupils.  Another  act  was  passed  at  the  same 
time  permitting  towns  to  establish  high  schools.  In 
1894  a  law  was  passed  providing  that  towns  with  a 
population  of  2,500  must  support  a  high  school  or  pro- 
vide secondary  education  for  their  children  in  an  acad- 
emy or  other  graded  school.  In  1900  it  was  further 
provided  that  towns  having  an  academy,  seminary,  or 
a  high  school  within  their  limits  should  provide  free 
secondary  instruction.  In  lieu  of  this  any  town  might 
provide  such  instruction  free  in  other  towns.  In  1907 
a  new  law  referring  to  high  schools  was  passed.  This 
provided   that   every   town   should   either   maintain   a 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    63 

system  of  high  school  instruction  or  should  furnish  free 
tuition  for  its  pupils  in  an  adjoining  town  either  within 
or  without  the  State.  No  town  should  be  compelled  to 
pay  more  than  twenty-four  dollars  annually  for  any  one 
pupil.  This  law  further  provided  that  the  State  should 
reimburse  such  towns  as  paid  the  tuition  of  pupils  as 
follows:  Any  town  expending  forty  per  cent  of  its 
available  tax  levy  for  school  purposes  should  receive  an 
amount  equal  to  one  fourth  of  the  amount  expended  for 
tuition;  towns  expending  fifty  per  cent  of  such  levy 
should  receive  an  amount  equal  to  one  half  that  ex- 
pended for  tuition;  towns  expending  sixty  per  cent  of 
levy  should  receive  an  amount  equal  to  three  fourths 
that  expended ;  while  towns  expending  seventy  per  cent 
were  entitled  to  an  amount  equal  to  the  whole  sum  ex- 
pended for  such  tuition.  The  law  of  191 2  provides  for 
teacher-training  courses  in  rural  high  schools.  These 
courses  are  open  to  seniors  and  graduates  of  high  schools. 
The  graduate  student  completing  a  teacher's  course  re- 
ceives a  license  to  teach  in  the  schools  of  the  State  for  a 
period  of  five  years,  the  senior  student  receiving  a  license 
to  teach  for  four  years.  Academy  students  are  also 
eligible  to  profit  by  the  provisions  of  this  law.  Eight 
hundred  dollars  per  year  is  the  maximum  subsidy  for 
these  schools. 

Connecticut. — The  general  assembly  of  Connecticut 
in  1897  provided  that  any  town  not  supporting  a  high 
school  should  pay  the  tuition  in  whole  or  in  part  of  any 
child  who  resided  with  his  parents  or  guardian  and  at- 
tended an  approved  high  school  in  the  State.  At  the 
same  time  an  act  was  passed  providing  for  the  reim- 
bursement of  the  smaller  towns  to  the  extent  of  two 
thirds  of  the  amount  actually  expended  by  the  town  for 


64  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

tuition  of  pupils  in  an  outside  high  school;  the  next 
general  assembly  extended  this  list  to  include  the  larger 
towns.  The  limit  of  such  reimbursement  by  the  State 
was  thirty  dollars  for  each  pupil.  In  1903  a  law  pro- 
viding for  transportation  of  pupils  to  a  neighboring  high 
school  was  passed.  This  law  permits  any  town  to  pay 
the  transportation  of  its  pupils  and  provides  for  the  re- 
imbursement of  such  town  to  the  extent  of  one  half  of 
the  amount  thus  expended,  provided  that  such  amount 
does  not  exceed  twenty  dollars  per  pupil.  This  provision 
regarding  tuition  reimbursement  extends  also  to  the 
academy.  State  aid  for  the  high  school  library  is  pro- 
vided also  to  the  extent  of  ten  dollars  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  library  and  five  dollars  annually  thereafter, 
provided  that  a  like  amount  is  raised  locally.  In  1909 
a  law  was  passed  making  provision  for  the  establish- 
ment of  evening  high  schools  in  towns  and  districts 
having  10,000  or  more  inhabitants,  these  schools  to  be 
open  to  persons  over  fourteen  years  of  age. 

Delaware. — In  the  State  of  Delaware  there  is  no  legal 
recognition  of  high  schools  as  such.  All  such  schools 
are  considered  a  part  of  what  is  known  as  graded  schools, 
and  as  such  benefit  equally  in  the  distribution  of  the 
State  school  fund,  which  is  apportioned  upon  the  teacher 
basis.  The  State  fund  consists  of  the  income  from  the 
permanent  school  fund  and  appropriations  made  by  the 
legislature.  This  appropriation  cannot  fall  below  $132,- 
000  annually.  This,  together  with  an  income  of  $34,- 
296.50,  as  in  1900,  would  give  each  school  of  the  State  a 
little  more  than  $185  per  teacher.  In  1899  the  general 
assembly  of  Delaware  provided  for  the  division  of  the 
State  into  districts  containing  one  or  more  graded  schools 
to  be  free  to  the  qualified  pupils  of  such  districts.     The 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH  SCHOOL    65 

basis  upon  which  appropriations  are  made  is  $15  per 
pupil  for  each  year  spent  in  school. 

New  Jersey. — The  early  high  schools  in  New  Jersey 
were  incorporated  as  a  part  of  the  general  system. 
Not  until  187 1  was  a  provision  made  for  a  State  school 
tax,  and  then  the  schools  were  made  free  to  all  children 
of  the  State.  In  1894  the  township  school  law  abolished 
the  small  districts  and  made  the  municipality  the  unit 
of  school  administration.  Previous  to  1901  the  State 
levy  was  made  such  as  would  produce  $5  per  child  of 
school  age.  In  this  year  the  law  was  changed  and  a 
levy  of  two  thirds  of  a  mill  on  the  dollar  was  provided. 
In  1903  this  rate  became  2%  mills  upon  each  dollar. 
In  1907  the  income  from  this  levy  was  over  four  mil- 
lion dollars.  This  money  is  apportioned  in  the  follow- 
ing manner:  $600  for  each  superintendent  and  supervis- 
ing principal;  $200  for  each  teacher  employed  during 
the  school  year;  $80  for  each  teacher  employed  during 
a  part  of  the  year;  the  remaining  amount  is  apportioned 
among  the  several  districts  in  proportion  to  the  atten- 
dance in  each  district.  An  act  passed  in  191 1  encouraging 
the  establishment  of  normal-training  courses  provides 
that  certificates  from  these  courses  in  high  schools  are 
valid  for  teaching  purposes.  An  act  of  191 2  extends 
school  privileges  free  of  tuition  to  resident  persons  over 
twenty  years  of  age. 

Maryland. — The  State  of  Maryland  provides  for  the 
establishment  of  county  high  schools,  and  for  their  sup- 
port by  county  tax.  A  law  providing  for  the  establish- 
ment of  county  high  schools  was  passed  in  1872.  It 
provided  that  the  county  school  commissioners  might 
accept  a  high  school  building  from  an  election  district, 
or  combined  election  district,  and  thereafter  maintain  a 
high  school  in  such  building  out  of  the  general  school 


66  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

fund.  In  1898  manual  training  schools  were  provided 
for.  This  act  stipulates  that  when  a  suitable  building 
or  room  connected  with  one  of  the  graded  or  high  schools 
of  the  county  shall  be  provided  by  the  county,  the 
county  school  commissioner  may  accept  such  building 
and  maintain  manual-training  courses  out  of  the  gen- 
eral school  fund.  Such  a  school  is  authorized  to  re- 
ceive $1,500  as  a  State  subsidy.  This  amount  may  not 
be  secured  after  the  first  year  unless  there  is  an  average 
daily  attendance  for  the  previous  year  of  thirty  pupils. 
If  there  are  two  or  more  such  schools  in  the  county  they 
must  share  equally  in  the  above  amount.  An  act  of 
this  same  year  also  provided  for  State  aid  of  colored  in- 
dustrial schools  in  a  like  amount,  thus  making  it  possible 
for  any  one  school  in  a  county  to  receive  $3,000  yearly 
for  this  kind  of  work.  The  legislature  of  1908  provided 
also  for  State  aid  to  certain  other  high  schools.  These 
schools  must  be  approved,  and  must  offer  besides  the 
regular  academic  work  a  course  in  business  training, 
the  State  being  authorized  to  aid  by  a  subsidy  of  $1,000 
annually.  No  such  appropriation  may  be  made  to  more 
than  one  approved  high  school  in  the  county,  where 
the  total  school  enrolment  is  less  than  4,000.  Prac- 
tically all  the  counties  of  Maryland  have  accredited 
high  schools,  many  of  these  beginning  their  high  school 
work  in  the  seventh  grade. 

Virginia. — Virginia  has  permitted  for  a  number  of 
years  the  establishment  of  high  schools,  the  local  boards 
being  permitted  to  charge  all  pupils  a  tuition  fee  of 
$2.50  per  month.  In  1906  the  general  assembly  pro- 
vided for  the  establishment  of  high  schools  in  districts 
or  joint  districts  and  authorized  State  aid  to  these 
schools.  When  local  funds  to  the  amount  of  $250  have 
been  provided  for,  the  State  will  appropriate  an  equal 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    67 

amount  for  the  support  of  such  high  schools,  the  maxi- 
mum amount  of  State  aid  being  $400.  The  assembly 
of  1908  provided  for  the  establishment  of  normal-train- 
ing departments  in  certain  high  schools.  The  State 
board  is  empowered  to  select  the  schools  which  are  to 
give  this  instruction.  The  maximum  of  State  aid  for 
this  purpose  is  $1,500,  which  must  all  be  applied  to  the 
payment  of  teachers  in  the  normal  department.  Only 
one  school  may  receive  this  aid  in  the  county.  This 
same  year  provision  was  made  also  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  courses  in  agriculture,  domestic  economy,  and 
manual  training  in  at  least  one  high  school  in  each  con- 
gressional district,  $20,000  being  appropriated  for  that 
purpose.  The  growth  of  the  high  school  under  the  law 
of  1906  was  phenomenal,  there  being  an  increase  from 
74  to  218  schools  in  the  first  year  of  its  existence. 

North  Carolina. — North  Carolina  makes  it  legal  to 
teach  high  school  subjects  in  any  district  which  employs 
more  than  one  teacher,  the  expense  of  instruction  to  be 
provided  out  of  the  regular  school  funds.  Towns  are 
authorized  to  appropriate  money  for  the  support  of 
high  schools  and  may  levy  a  special  tax  for  this  purpose. 
In  1905  over  800  district  schools  were  doing  a  certain 
amount  of  high  school  work.  The  general  assembly  of 
1907  passed  an  act  in  aid  of  high  schools  in  rural  com- 
munities. It  provided  that  when  a  local  community 
raised  by  any  means  a  minimum  of  $250  per  annum  for 
the  support  of  a  high  school  the  State  would  provide  a 
like  amount  up  to  $500.  Not  more  than  four  such 
schools  may  receive  aid  in  any  county,  nor  may  they  be 
established  in  towns  of  more  than  1,200  inhabitants. 
It  provides,  further,  that  such  schools  must  give  in- 
struction five  months  in  the  year  and  must  employ  three 
teachers  or  more  at  a  salary  of  $40  or  more  per  month. 


6S  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

Tuition  for  non-resident  pupils  is  reimbursed  by  the 
State  to  such  counties  as  have  no  high  school;  no  amount 
in  excess  of  $500  being  permitted  to  any  county.  Under 
the  law  of  191 1  teacher- training  courses  are  authorized, 
but  without  any  State  subsidy  being  provided  for  their 
encouragement. 

South  Carolina. — In  1907  the  legislature  of  South  Caro- 
lina authorized  the  establishment  of  high  schools  by 
counties  or  townships,  union  of  townships,  union  dis- 
tricts, or  by  towns  of  less  than  one  thousand  inhabitants, 
these  schools  to  be  supported  partly  by  local  and  partly 
by  State  tax.  This  act  provides  that  not  more  than 
$2,500  annually  may  be  received  by  any  county  from 
the  State.  No  school  may  receive  from  the  State  more 
than  fifty  per  cent  of  the  amount  raised  locally;  it  must 
have  at  least  25  pupils  enrolled  and  employ  at  least  two 
teachers;  and,  further,  it  may  not  receive  more  than 
$1,200  annually.  In  1907  the  appropriation  to  these 
schools  ranged  from  $222  to  $800  for  fifty-eight  schools. 
In  1 9 13  a  state  tax  of  one  mill  was  authorized  for  the 
purpose  of  providing  funds  for  public  schools,  $60,000 
of  this  amount  to  be  appropriated  for  high  schools. 

Alabama. — In  Alabama  county  high  schools  are 
authorized  in  certain  counties — the  counties  in  which 
are  located  an  agricultural  school,  a  normal  school,  the 
University,  the  Polytechnic  Institute,  or  the  Industrial 
School  being  exempted.  Any  such  county,  which  pro- 
vides and  equips  a  high  school  building  costing  $5,000 
upon  a  plot  of  ground  of  not  less  than  five  acres  and 
deeds  the  same  to  the  State  of  Alabama,  will  receive 
from  the  State  annually  $2,000,  for  the  purpose  of  pay- 
ing the  salaries  of  teachers.  In  1909  a  county  tax  for 
the  support  of  county  high  schools  was  legalized.  An- 
other act  authorized  cities  or  towns  to  convey  property, 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS  OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    69 

either  real  or  personal,  or  to  appropriate  funds  for  high 
school  purposes.  In  191 1  the  amount  of  State  aid  to 
any  high  school  providing  building  and  ground  as  above 
stated  was  increased  from  $2,000  to  $3,000. 

Tennessee. — -The  legislature  of  Tennessee  in  1899 
provided  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  at  the 
option  of  the  county  court  of  one  or  more  high  schools 
in  each  county,  these  to  be  supported  by  county  tax. 
It  provided  also  that  counties  might  combine  with 
seminaries,  academies,  colleges,  or  cities  for  the  pur- 
pose of  maintaining  such  schools.  These  schools  were 
free  to  all  within  the  county.  The  public  schools  of 
Tennessee  were  divided  into  two  classes,  primary  and 
secondary,  the  secondary  school  beginning  with  the 
sixth  grade.  Tuition  where  paid  by  non-resident  pupils 
might  be  paid  out  of  the  school  fund  of  the  various 
counties.  By  the  act  of  1907  any  county  high  school 
board  might  receive  the  properties  of  academies  or  small 
colleges  if  tendered  them.  By  the  law  of  1909  Ten- 
nessee stepped  into  the  front  rank  of  States  in  the  pro- 
vision of  funds  for  the  support  of  the  school  system. 
By  this  act  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  gross  revenue  of 
the  State  is  set  aside  for  a  general  education  fund. 
Sixty-one  per  cent  of  this  fund  is  apportioned  to  the 
several  counties  of  the  State  according  to  their  scholastic 
population.  Ten  per  cent  is  set  aside  as  a  special  fund 
to  be  used  to  equalize  more  nearly  the  common  schools 
in  the  several  counties,  this  amount  to  be  apportioned 
according  to  the  scholastic  population  of  each  county 
and  in  inverse  ratio  of  the  taxable  property  to  the 
scholastic  population.  Before  this  ten  per  cent  may  be 
apportioned,  $350  for  each  county  must  be  withdrawn 
from  it,  this  amount  to  be  used  to  increase  the  annual 
salary  of  the  county  superintendent.     Eight  per  cent 


70  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

of  the  general  fund  is  to  be  used  as  a  high  school  fund, 
this  to  be  apportioned  among  the  several  counties.  The 
county  high  schools  profiting  by  this  fund  must  be  ap- 
proved by  the  State  inspector  and  must  provide  courses 
in  agriculture  and  home  economics.  One  per  cent  of 
this  general  fund  is  to  be  used  for  the  maintenance  of 
school  libraries.  Thirteen  per  cent  of  this  fund  is  to  be 
used  for  the  maintenance  of  normal  schools  for  the  train- 
ing of  teachers,  these  schools  to  be  open  to  white  and 
black  alike.  Seven  per  cent  of  this  fund  is  to  be  used 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  University  of  Tennessee,  a 
certain  amount  of  this  latter  sum  to  be  used  to  pay  the 
travelling  expenses  of  young  men  and  women  of  the 
State  in  going  to  the  University.  It  is  perhaps  needless 
to  state  that  this  is  one  of  the  most  progressive  laws  in 
aid  of  general  education  passed  in  recent  years. 

West  Virginia. — The  laws  of  West  Virginia  legalize 
district  and  joint-district  high  schools  to  be  supported 
where  necessary  by  local  taxation.  A  high  school  may 
be  established  in  any  district  having  a  town  which  sup- 
ports a  school  of  four  or  more  grades  in  the  same  build- 
ing. Such  a  school  is  free  to  the  pupils  of  the  district, 
and  is  supported  by  a  tax  levied  upon  the  property  of  the 
district.  In  1908  a  law  was  passed  providing  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  district  high  school  upon  the  petition  and  by 
the  vote  at  any  election  of  the  residents  of  the  district. 

Kentucky. — Kentucky,  according  to  the  report  of 
1907  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, has  not  legalized  the  high  school  as  distinct  from 
the  graded  school.  The  report  says:  "The  high  school, 
where  it  exists,  is  organized  under  the  law  providing  for 
graded  schools.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  rural  pupils 
have  no  high  school  facilities  in  the  State."  l 
1  Snyder,  "  Legal  Status  of  Rural  High  Schools." 


THE   LEGAL   STATUS   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    71 

Georgia. — In  Georgia  also  no  special  mention  is  made 
in  the  laws  regarding  high  schools.  They  exist  as 
a  part  of  the  public  school  system.  There  are  two  types 
of  schools,  middle  and  senior  high  schools.  The  former 
offers  a  three-year  course  above  the  seventh  grade, 
the  latter  a  four-year  course  above  the  same  year.  In 
1909  a  law  was  passed  adding  $2,000  to  the  annual  ap- 
propriation to  each  of  the  district  agricultural  and  in- 
dustrial schools.  In  191 1  the  law  was  repealed  which 
had  been  in  effect  previously,  making  legal  the  taxation 
in  certain  counties  for  school  buildings. 

Florida. — The  plan  of  State  aid  to  high  schools 
carried  out  by  Florida  is  also  very  similar  to  the  plans 
carried  out  in  the  foregoing  States.  The  legislatures  of 
1903  and  1905  provided  for  the  extending  of  State  aid  to 
two  classes  of  high  schools  and  to  rural  graded  schools. 
A  senior  high  school  is  one  having  a  four-year  course  as 
provided  by  the  State  board,  and  is  entitled  under  this 
act  to  an  annuity  of  $600.  A  junior  high  school  is  one 
offering  two  years  of  high  school  work,  and  is  entitled  to 
an  annuity  of  $360.  A  rural  graded  school  is  entitled 
to  $200  annually.  The  effect  of  such  legislation  is 
clearly  seen  from  the  fact  that  the  number  of  high  schools 
increased  from  seventy- three  in  1904  to  one  hundred  and 
six  in  1906. 

Louisiana. — In  Louisiana  graded  and  central  high 
schools  may  be  established  by  the  parishes.  The  site 
of  these  buildings  must  be  donated  and  buildings  must 
be  provided  by  some  other  means  than  by  the  use  of 
the  local  school  fund.  It  is  needless  to  state  that  such 
a  law  must  of  necessity  practically  eliminate  the  high 
school  from  the  public  school  system.  A  parish  super- 
intendent of  education  elected  by  the  parish  board  of 
school  directors  supervises  the  work  of  the  public  school. 


72  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

Mississippi. — In  Mississippi  the  high  schools  are  ad- 
ministered as  a  part  of  the  public  school  system.  In  1905 
sixty-eight  accredited  high  schools  were  reported,  In 
his  report  for  the  year  1904-5  the  State  superintendent 
states  that  only  about  six  per  cent  of  the  white  children 
of  the  State  are  within  walking  distance  of  a  high  school. 
In  1908  a  law  was  passed  authorizing  a  county  to  estab- 
lish an  agricultural  high  school  for  its  white  youth,  such 
school  to  be  supported  by  a  tax  on  all  the  taxable  prop- 
erty of  the  county.  When  any  such  county  district 
shall  have  provided  at  least  twenty  acres  of  land  and 
shall  have  erected  suitable  buildings,  including  a  dor- 
mitory for  the  accommodation  of  at  least  forty  students, 
it  is  entitled  to  receive  $1,000  annually  as  State  support. 
The  State  Supreme  Court  in  1909  adjudged  this  law 
unconstitutional  on  the  ground  that  it  was  discrimina- 
tory, depriving  the  negro  boy  of  his  legal  right,  and  so, 
subversive  of  the  United  States  Constitution. 

Arkansas. — The  high  schools  of  Arkansas  are  also  a 
legal  part  of  the  public  school  system.  They  may  be 
provided  in  any  district  at  the  option  of  the  local  author- 
ities. In  1909  a  State  law  provided  for  the  establish- 
ment and  maintenance  of  public  schools  of  agriculture. 
Under  its  provisions  the  State  was  divided  into  four 
districts,  establishing  an  agricultural  school  in  each 
district  and  appropriating  $160,000  for  this  purpose. 
By  an  act  passed  in  191 1  three  fourths  of  the  income 
derived  from  the  forest  reserves  within  the  State  is  to 
be  used  for  the  support  of  the  public  schools.  An  act 
passed  in  the  same  year  provides  that  high  schools 
offering  normal-training  courses  shall  receive  State  aid 
up  to  $1,000.  Under  this  act  a  four-year  school  may 
receive  $800,  a  three-year  school  $600,  and  a  two-year 
school  $400.     No  high  school  may  receive  more  than 


THE   LEGAL   STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL     73 

$1,000  any  one  year.  Tuition  in  these  schools  is  $1.50 
per  month  to  non-resident  pupils.  Graduates  of  these 
courses  receive  certificates  which  are  good  for  two  years, 
and  which  may  be  extended  to  six  years  after  one  year  of 
successful  teaching. 

Oklahoma. — By  the  laws  of  Oklahoma  high  school 
departments  may  be  added  to  the  elementary  school 
system  where  it  is  desired.  County  high  schools  are 
legalized  also.  Counties  having  a  population  of  6,000 
or  over  may  establish  a  high  school  upon  petition  and 
vote  of  the  residents.  These  county  schools  are  sup- 
ported by  a  county  tax.  The  State  board  adopts  text- 
books for  uniform  use  in  the  high  schools  of  the  State. 
In  1909  the  legislature  passed  a  law  providing  for  the 
erection  of  buildings  and  the  maintenance  of  certain 
district  agricultural  schools.  One  school  is  to  be  located 
in  each  supreme-court  judicial  district,  each  school  to 
be  of  secondary  grade. 

Texas. — The  high  schools  of  Texas  are  legally  a  part 
of  the  public  school  system  and  are  supported  as  public 
schools.  In  towns  and  cities  which  extend  the  scholastic 
age  beyond  seventeen  it  is  required  that  a  tax  for  school 
purposes  be  levied.  The  State  pays  annually  nearly 
seventy  per  cent  of  the  total  cost  of  maintaining  the 
schools  of  the  State.  In  1909  a  law  was  passed  providing 
a  special  State  subsidy  to  public  high  schools  which  gave 
instruction  in  agriculture,  manual  training,  and  do- 
mestic economy.  The  amount  of  this  State  aid  is  the 
amount  of  local  expenditure,  the  minimum  being  $500, 
the  maximum  $2,000.  The  amount  of  these  appro- 
priations is  raised  by  a  general  State  tax,  which  may  not 
exceed  two  mills  upon  the  dollar. 

Ohio.— Ohio  has  had  a  township  system  of  high  school 
organization  in  force  for  many  years,  the  first  act  rela- 


74  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

tive  to  this  dating  back  to  1853.  This  law  remained 
practically  unchanged  until  1892,  when  an  act  known  as 
the  Boxwell  Law  was  passed.  This  provided  for  uni- 
form examinations  for  the  graded  school  graduates,  and 
permitted  those  passing  such  examination  to  enter  any 
high  school  in  the  county  or  in  any  adjoining  county. 
The  tuition  of  such  students  might  be  paid  by  the  town- 
ships to  which  the  students  belonged.  In  1902  a  new 
law  in  regard  to  the  payment  of  tuition  was  passed,  and 
a  special  tax  was  permitted  in  each  township  and  dis- 
trict to  cover  the  cost  of  the  tuition  of  students  in  out- 
side high  schools.  In  1898  an  act  providing  for  the  free 
transportation  of  pupils  was  passed.  This  is  left  en- 
tirely optional  with  the  local  boards,  but  is  now  largely 
practised  throughout  the  State.  At  present  there  are 
first,  second,  and  third  grade  high  schools,  the  first  offer- 
ing a  four-year  course,  the  second  a  three-year  course, 
and  the  third  a  two-year  course.  The  minimum  length 
of  term  for  the  first  and  second  grade  schools  is  thirty- 
two  weeks,  and  for  the  third-grade  schools  twenty-eight 
weeks.  In  1909  the  legislature  passed  a  law  authorizing 
the  boards  of  education  to  levy  a  tax  for  the  main- 
tenance of  agricultural,  industrial,  and  trade -schools. 
Under  these  various  laws  the  growth  of  the  high  schools 
in  Ohio  has  been  rapid  indeed,  the  number  increasing 
from  781  in  1902  to  930  in  1906.  Only  about  eleven  per 
cent  of  the  total  amount  expended  for  education  comes 
from  State  sources,  this  being  distributed  to  the  counties, 
and  by  them  distributed  to  the  townships  and  districts. 
Indiana. — The  township  high  school  in  Indiana  dates 
back  to  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  in  1849.  Tne 
early  laws  encouraged  centralization  into  combined  dis- 
tricts, towns,  districts  and  towns,  and  combined  towns. 
These  laws  gave  rise  later  to  township  graded  schools 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    75 

and  township  high  schools,  the  first  township  high  school 
having  been  established  about  1872.  In  1891  several 
laws  were  passed  in  regard  to  the  establishment  of  high 
schools.  At  least  one  separate  graded  high  school 
should  be  established  in  each  township  provided  there 
were  twenty-five  common  school  graduates  of  school 
age  residing  in  the  township.  The  school  trustee  might 
at  his  discretion  provide  free  transportation  for  the 
pupils  of  his  township  to  a  neighboring  school,  the 
tuition  of  such  pupils  being  provided  for  also.  The  laws 
of  Indiana  provide  also  for  the  support  of  county  high 
schools  in  those  counties  having  received  as  a  gift  high 
school  buildings  and  equipment.  Tuition  in  these 
schools  must  be  free  to  all  pupils  resident  in  the  county. 
According  to  the  report  of  the  State  superintendent  for 
1905-6  the  total  State  subsidy  amounted  to  $3.04  per 
capita,  the  total  local  revenue  being  $10.31  per  capita. 
Both  the  State  and  county  distribute  these  funds  upon 
the  school-census  basis.  The  law  of  191 1  authorized 
cities  of  3,000  or  over  to  establish  night  schools  for 
pupils  between  fourteen  and  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
The  same  law  made  it  lawful  for  cities  of  200,000  or 
over  to  levy  a  tax  in  support  of  trade-schools. 

Illinois.— The  first  rural  high  school  was  organized  in 
Illinois  in  1866,  and  was  open  in  September,  1867,  with 
138  pupils.  The  school  charged  tuition  to  outside 
pupils,  its  income  from  this  source  alone  amounting  to 
nearly  $1,000  yearly  during  the  early  years  of  its  exist- 
ence. A  law  passed  in  1867  legalized  the  action  of  the 
township  in  establishing  this  high  school  and  incorpo- 
rated it  as  the  Princeton  Township  High  School  District. 
The  law  of  1872  provided  that  any  school  township 
upon  petition  of  five  hundred  voters  might  vote  upon 
the  establishment  of  a  high  school  within  its  bounds. 


7G  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

For  the  purpose  of  establishing  such  school  a  township 
shall  be  considered  a  district.  Two  or  more  adjoining 
townships  may  proceed  in  like  manner  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  schools.  The  courts  of  Illinois  have  ren- 
dered decisions  to  the  effect  that  the  high  school  is 
legally  a  part  of  the  common  school  system  of  the 
State,  and  as  such  is  entitled  to  partake  of  the  benefits 
of  the  State  school  fund.  The  permanent  fund  consists 
of  a  State  fund,  a  county  fund,  and  a  township  fund, 
the  State  fund  during  the  early  years  being  too  small 
to  be  of  much  benefit  to  the  high  schools.  The  county 
fund  is  a  fund  held  in  trust  for  the  various  towns  in  the 
districts,  the  interest  of  which  is  used  for  general  school 
purposes.  The  early  two-mill  State  school  tax  resulted 
in  an  income  of  about  $900,000,  but  since  1873  the 
legislature  has  made  an  annual  appropriation  of  one 
million  dollars  to  the  public  schools  of  the  State.  This 
amount  as  apportioned  has  not  been  sufficient  to  affect 
the  high  school  situation  to  a  great  extent,  and  has  not 
encouraged  the  establishment  of  new  schools.  In  1905 
a  law  providing  for  competitive  examinations  for  high 
school  students  was  passed,  and  granting  free  scholar- 
ships to  successful  contestants  in  any  of  the  State  normal 
schools.  This  was  in  effect  State  aid  for  the  training  of 
teachers.  In  the  year  1906  there  were  838  such  scholar- 
ships granted.  In  1907  a  law  was  passed  providing 
for  the  payment  by  the  home  district  of  the  tuition  of 
non-resident  children  of  poor  parents.1 

1  As  evidence  of  the  popularity  of  the  township  high  school  idea  in 
Illinois,  the  following  facts  are  worthy  of  note.  There  are  at  present 
75  of  these  schools  in  the  State  giving  employment  to  863  teachers  and 
ministering  to  13,216  students.  Of  this  number,  997,  or  7.5  per  cent,  are 
tuition  students,  who,  in  1912,  paid  in  approximately  $37,833,  the  aver- 
age tuition  per  student  being  $37.96.  Many  of  these  schools  are  splen- 
didly housed  and  equipped,  the  initial  cost  of  the  building  of  the  Oak 


THE   LEGAL   STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL     77 

Michigan. — In  Michigan  any  district  or  joint  district 
with  a  school  census  of  one  hundred  may  establish  a 
high  school  by  submitting  the  question  to  a  vote  of  the 
people  in  the  district.  This  provision  has  been  in  effect 
since  1861.  The  legislature  of  1901  passed  an  act  per- 
mitting the  establishment  of  township  high  schools, 
these  to  be  supported  by  local  taxation.  A  tuition  law 
was  passed  in  1908  which  provided  for  the  payment  of 
tuition  by  non-resident  pupils.  If  their  parents  are 
taxpayers  in  the  high  school  district,  but  do  not  reside 
therein,  they  shall  be  required  to  pay  only  the  excess 
of  the  tuition  fees  above  the  amount  of  such  tax.  Pro- 
vision was  made  also  for  any  district  to  levy  a  tax  to 
defray  the  expense  of  transportation  and  tuition  of  its 
pupils  attending  in  the  neighboring  high  school.  In 
1907  the  legislature  legalized  the  establishment  and 
maintenance  of  county  agricultural,  domestic  economy, 
and  manual  training  schools,  at  the  option  of  any  county 
or  combination  of  counties,  these  schools  to  be  supported 
by  local  tax  and  be  free  to  all  the  pupils  of  the  support- 
Park  and  River  Forest  High  School  in  Cook  County  being  $350,000. 
Another  point  of  interest  is  that  the  Princeton  Township  High  School, 
first  organized  in  1867,  is  still  in  operation.  This  school,  with  its  en- 
rolment of  almost  400  students,  28  per  cent  of  whom  are  from  rural 
districts,  seems  to  be  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the  Illinois  township 
schools.  Seventy-five  out  of  its  total  enrolment  of  362  are  tuition 
students,  who  pay  in  in  tuitions  almost  $3,000  yearly. — (Hollister,  H.  A., 
"The  Township  High  School  in  Illinois,"  Bulletin  No.  8,  191 2.  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois  School  of  Education.) 

As  evidence  of  a  still  more  recent  provision  for  free  high  school  educa- 
tion, Supt.  C.  E.  Joiner  reports  (Feb.,  1914)  an  enrolment  in  the  Mon- 
mouth High  School  of  420,  of  which  number  144  are  tuition  pupils,  most 
of  whom  have  come  in,  he  says,  under  the  influence  of  the  new  high  school 
tuition  law.  It  is  easy  to  believe  that  5,000  boys  and  girls  will  attend 
high  schools  in  Illinois  this  year  who  would  not  have  been  there  without 
the  new  law  of  1913,  passed  since  the  above  account  was  written,  making 
it  compulsory  upon  districts  without  a  local  high  school  to  pay  tuition  for 
those  of  its  local  boys  and  girls  who  enter  near-by  accessible  high  schools. 


78  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ing  county  or  counties.  In  1909  a  law  was  passed 
providing  State  aid  equal  to  two  thirds  of  the  amount 
expended  for  the  maintenance  of  these  schools,  the  max- 
imum aid  to  any  school  being  $4,000.  The  establish- 
ment of  normal-training  schools  in  those  communities 
in  which  there  is  no  State  normal  school  has  been  legal- 
ized. The  State  pays  to  these  schools  a  bonus  of  $500 
for  each  teacher  employed,  the  maximum  amount  being 
$1,000  per  year  for  any  one  school.  These  schools  may 
be  established  in  connection  with  other  high  schools,  but 
teachers  for  these  separate  courses  must  be  employed. 

Iowa. — For  a  number  of  years  Iowa  has  permitted  cer- 
tain high  school  work  to  be  done  in  the  graded  schools  of 
the  State.  Districts  might  unite  for  the  purpose  of  main- 
taining such  courses.  In  1906  there  were  over  42,000 
pupils  in  this  kind  of  schools,  a  large  number  of  these 
being  tuition  pupils.  Tuition  in  these  schools  was  paid 
by  the  parent  or  guardian.  The  statutes  of  1901  pro- 
vided for  the  establishment  of  county  and  township  high 
schools.  Comparatively  few  of  these  have  been  es- 
tablished. State  aid  to  high  schools  comes  only  from 
the  interest  of  State  school  funds  and  affects  the  high 
school  situation  very  little.  In  191 1  a  law  was  passed 
providing  State  aid  for  normal  training,  for  agricultural, 
and  for  home  economics  courses  in  high  schools.  Each 
school  under  this  act  was  entitled  to  receive  $500,  the 
maximum  amount  for  the  county,  however,  being  $800. 
In  1913  a  law  provided  for  the  payment  of  the  tuition 
of  a  graded  school  graduate  in  any  high  school  (with 
certain  limitations)  in  the  State.  Such  tuition  was  to 
be  paid  by  the  student's  home  school  corporation  and 
might  not  exceed  $3.50  per  month. 

Missouri. — The  Missouri  law  permits  the  establish- 
ment of  consolidated   district  high   schools  supported 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS  OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    79 

by  a  local  tax.  By  a  law  of  1907  high  schools  were 
classified  as  first,  second,  and  third  class,  these  being 
schools  with  four,  three,  and  two  year  courses  respec- 
tively. In  1909  a  law  providing  for  the  establishment  of 
county  high  schools  failed  to  pass.  In  19 13  a  decided 
step  in  advance  was  taken  by  the  passage  of  the  follow- 
ing law:  State  aid  is  authorized  to  any  district  which 
shall  have  provided  a  site  of  not  less  than  five  acres, 
and  shall  have  erected  a  modern  school  building  with 
a  modern  system  of  heating  and  lighting,  including  an 
assembly-room  for  the  use  of  the  citizens  of  the  district. 
The  State  agrees  to  pay  for  one  fourth  the  cost  of  such 
a  building  in  any  amount  up  to  $2,000.  The  law  further 
provides  for  a  special  State  grant  of  $25  per  year  for 
each  square  mile  or  fraction  thereof  in  the  area  of  the 
district,  such  sum  not  to  exceed  $800  per  year  to  any  one 
district.  This,  of  course,  is  an  incentive  to  consolidation. 
Kansas. — As  far  back  as  1896  the  counties  of  Kansas 
were  permitted  by  law  to  establish  a  county  high  school, 
the  one  provision  being  that  they  have  a  population  of 
6,000.  A  county  levy  up  to  three  mills  was  provided  as 
a  means  of  support.  In  1905  three  courses  of  study  were 
provided  for  these  schools,  a  general  course,  a  normal, 
and  a  collegiate,  each  requiring  four  years  of  work  for 
completion.  Pupils  from  outside  the  county  are  per- 
mitted to  attend  any  school  which  receives  county  funds 
upon  the  payment  of  tuition.  In  1903  counties  with  a 
population  of  less  than  6,000  were  permitted  to  com- 
bine with  the  high  school  at  the  county  seat,  thus  es- 
tablishing in  effect  a  county  high  school  with  partial 
county  support.  In  191 2  there  were  twenty-six  of  the 
regular  county  high  schools  in  the  State,  with  a  total 
enrolment  of  3,804.  In  1905  a  new  type  of  county 
high  school  came  into  existence  by  reason  of  the  passage 


80  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

of  the  Barnes  High  School  Law.  Under  its  provisions 
any  school  district  or  joint  district  or  city  of  less  than 
16,000  inhabitants  may  establish  a  high  school  supported 
by  county  funds.  This  law  is  in  effect,  however,  a 
local-option  law,  and  until  the  county  as  a  unit  has 
adopted  it  in  a  regular  election  no  such  school  can  be 
established.  Further,  no  county  which  has  established 
a  regular  county  high  school  may  come  under  the  pro- 
visions of  this  law.  As  noted  previously  in  this  chapter, 
the  law  is  not  an  ideal  one  because,  first,  it  tends  to 
overburden  certain  districts  or  cities,  and,  second,  there 
is  no  limit  to  the  number  of  high  schools  which  any  county 
may  establish.  Because  of  this  latter  fact,  a  determined 
effort  has  been  made  to  repeal  the  law.  In  1909  a  law 
was  passed  granting  State  aid  to  such  schools  as  main- 
tained normal-training  courses  for  teachers.  Under  the 
provisions  of  this  act  the  State  agrees  to  pay  any  county 
$1,000,  such  sum  to  be  divided  among  those  schools 
maintaining  normal-training  courses.  In  no  case,  how- 
ever, may  a  school  receive  more  than  $500.  Other  State 
aid  to  the  extent  of  $500  may  be  secured  by  any  school 
which  offers  industrial  training  and  domestic  science 
courses.  Other  State  aid  to  the  amount  of  about  one 
dollar  per  student  per  year  comes  from  the  distribution 
of  the  income  from  State  school  funds.  A  law  passed  in 
191 1  provided  for  county  aid  to  one  or  more  high  schools 
in  counties  of  less  than  10,000  inhabitants.  In  counties 
of  less  than  3,000  inhabitants  the  same  law  provided 
that  not  more  than  one  school  in  the  county  might  be 
aided,  this  school  to  be  the  one  located  at  the  county-seat.1 

1  The  legislature  of  1909  also  passed  a  law  providing  State  aid,  to  the 
amount  of  $250,  to  those  schools  offering  courses  in  elementary  agricul- 
ture and  domestic  science.  This  amount  may  be  secured  only  under 
certain  conditions.     First,  the  school  must  have  been  approved  by  the 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    81 

Nebraska. — Nebraska  has  authorized  the  creation 
of  high  schools  since  the  middle  seventies.  This  early 
law  provided  that  any  district  with  a  school  census  of 
more  than  150  be  permitted  to  establish  a  high  school 
and  provided  for  its  support  by  local  taxation.  It 
provided  also  that  any  district  board  upon  being  au- 
thorized by  vote  of  the  district  might  contract  for  the 
free  tuition  of  pupils  in  a  neighboring  high  school. 
Upon  similar  conditions  the  board  might  provide  trans- 
portation of  pupils  at  public  expense.  In  1895  an  act 
was  passed  providing  for  the  establishment  of  "free 
high  schools."  By  its  provisions  any  district  having 
a  school  census  of  150  children  could  establish  a  high 
school,  these  schools  being  permitted  to  collect  the  tuition 
of  fifty  cents  per  week  for  non-resident  pupils.  This 
amount  was  to  be  collected  from  those  counties  in  which 
such  pupils  resided.  In  1899  this  was  modified,  the 
tuition  rate  being  advanced  to  seventy-five  cents  per 
week  per  pupil.  In  1901  the  act  was  again  changed  so 
that  it  provided  that  only  the  actual  cost  of  the  educa- 
tion of  the  pupil  could  be  collected.  In  case  the  actual 
cost  exceeded  seventy-five  cents,  this  excess  could  be 
collected  from  the  parent.     This  same  act  provided  for 

State  board;  second,  at  least  ten  students  must  be  enrolled  each  semester 
in  these  industrial  courses;  third,  the  school  must  provide,  at  the  same 
time,  a  normal-training  course  for  rural  teachers,  such  a  course  to  give 
opportunity  for  the  study  of  psychology,  physiology,  methods,  and  re- 
views. Opportunity  must  be  given,  also,  for  a  certain  amount  of  obser- 
vation work  and  practice  teaching.  The  law  provides,  further,  that  the 
teachers'  examination  may  be  given  in  the  school  offering  the  normal- 
training  course,  the  State  board  providing  the  questions  for  this.  As 
stated  above,  high  schools  may  receive  funds  from  the  State  to  aid  in 
the  establishment  of  such  a  normal-training  course.  In  1913  the  legis- 
lature increased  the  amount  of  State  aid  from  $250  to  $500  for  the  in- 
dustrial courses,  and  at  present,  under  very  favorable  conditions,  a 
school  may  receive  $1,000  annually  from  the  State  in  aid  of  the  above 
work. 


82  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  creation  of  adjunct  districts.  The  adjunct  district 
comprised  the  outlying  territory  not  included  in  the 
high  school  district,  the  law  providing  that  such  portion 
of  territory  might  levy  a  special  tax  providing  for  free 
tuition  of  its  pupils  in  the  neighboring  high  school. 
The  legislature  of  1907  provided  for  the  optional  estab- 
lishment of  a  county  high  school  to  be  supported  by 
county  tax,  those  districts  already  supporting  a  high 
school  being  exempt  from  this  tax.  Provision  was  made 
in  the  same  year  for  the  establishment  of  high  schools 
including  courses  in  manual  training,  domestic  science, 
and  agriculture,  the  county  board  being  authorized  to 
buy  a  five-acre  tract  of  land  for  purposes  of  agricultural 
experimentation.  These  schools  were  free  to  residents 
of  the  county.  State  aid  to  the  amount  of  $700  was 
appropriated  annually  for  each  course  in  manual  train- 
ing. Accredited  schools  offering  normal-training  courses 
for  teachers  were  also  entitled  to  receive  State  aid  to  the 
amount  of  $350.  The  law  of  1913  goes  a  step  farther, 
providing  State  aid  to  the  amount  of  $1,250  per  year  to 
schools  maintaining  agricultural  courses  on  condition 
that  such  school  be  not  located  in  a  city  in  which 
the  State  already  supports  such  courses  in  some  other 
school.  Consolidated  high  schools,  by  the  same  law, 
which  cannot  comply  fully  with  the  State  requirements 
are  entitled  to  State  aid  in  the  amount  of  $625  yearly. 
State  aid  is  also  provided  for  certain  weak  districts  to 
the  amount  of  $385. 

Colorado. — The  Colorado  law  provides  for  high  schools' 
established  by  districts,  a  union  of  districts,  or  by  coun- 
ties, supported  as  the  other  public  schools  of  the  State. 
These  schools  are  supported  by  State,  county,  and  dis- 
trict funds,  State  and  county  funds  being  apportioned 
to  the  various  districts  upon  the  census  basis.     County 


THE  LEGAL  STATUS  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL     83 

high  schools  are  free  to  those  living  in  the  county.  In 
1 90 1  it  was  made  legal  for  any  high  school  district  to 
receive  and  hold  such  real  estate  as  might  be  necessary 
for  the  high  school  plant.  Text-books  might  be  fur- 
nished by  the  board  for  indigent  children. 

South  Dakota. — South  Dakota  provides  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  joint-township  high  schools,  these  schools 
to  be  supported  by  local  tax.  Few  schools  have  been 
organized  under  the  act  of  1903,  which  provided  for  the 
establishment  of  such  high  schools.  However,  consider- 
able high  school  work  is  done  in  the  graded  schools. 
State-supported  preparatory  schools  are  maintained  in 
connection  with  the  higher  institutions  of  learning — the 
University,  School  of  Mines,  and  the  Agricultural  Col- 
lege. Very  little  legislation  regarding  high  schools  has 
been  passed  in  South  Dakota  down  to  the  present  time, 
nothing  of  importance  appearing  in  the  statutes. 

Wyoming. — In  Wyoming  high  schools  were  author- 
ized by  law  in  1887.  Special  high  school  districts  may 
be  created  by  almost  any  combination  of  districts. 
These  schools  are  free  to  the  pupils  in  the  special  dis- 
tricts maintaining  them.  The  county  schools  are  free 
to  all  pupils  residing  in  the  county  and  are  supported 
by  a  county  tax.  The  sum  raised  by  county  taxation 
is  apportioned  as  follows:  $150  to  each  high  school  of 
the  county,  the  balance  being  apportioned  among  them 
according  to  the  number  of  pupils  enrolled. 

Utah. — The  earlier  laws  of  Utah  provided  that  high 
school  subjects  might  be  taught  in  the  common  schools, 
the  tuition  of  pupils  to  be  paid  by  their  own  district. 
A  law  also  authorized  the  establishment  of  high  schools 
in  districts  of  1,000  inhabitants  or  more,  this  number 
being  lowered  to  500  by  a  law  passed  in  March,  1909. 
Joint  districts  were  provided  for  also  for  high  school 


84  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

purposes.  During  the  same  session,  1909,  a  library- 
gymnasium  commission  was  appointed,  whose  duty  it 
is  to  have  general  control  of  the  gymnasium  work  and 
free  libraries  established  under  the  public  school  system, 
a  tax  being  provided  for  the  maintenance  of  these  li- 
braries. In  191 1  a  law  was  passed  making  the  county 
the  unit  for  school  purposes,  to  consist  of  one  or  more 
districts,  to  be  supported  by  county  tax. 

Arizona. — Arizona  permits  the  establishment  of  a 
high  school  in  any  district  or  union  district  having  a 
population  of  one  thousand  or  more.  But  four  such  high 
schools  were  reported  by  the  State  superintendent  in 
1906.  Considerable  high  school  work  is  done  in  this 
State  also  in  the  common  schools.  In  1909  a  law  was 
passed  establishing  four  high  school  scholarships  for  each 
county  at  the  university.  Unfortunately  this  was 
vetoed  by  the  governor.  In  191 2  a  law  provided  for  a 
county  tax  for  manual  training  and  domestic  science 
courses.  Under  a  law  of  the  same  year,  State  aid  in  any 
amount  up  to  $2,500  annually  was  provided  for  those 
schools  maintaining  courses  in  agriculture,  manual 
training,  domestic  science,  mining,  or  other  vocational 
pursuits.  Tuition  in  these  schools  is  free  to  residents  of 
the  county,  but  non-residents  may  be  charged  tuition 
at  the  rate  of  $3  a  month. 

Montana. — Montana  provides  for  the  establishment 
and  local  support  of  county  high  schools,  these  to  be 
free  to  all  residents  of  the  county.  Students  from  out- 
side counties  may  be  admitted  upon  payment  of  tuition. 
In  1907  there  were  fifteen  of  these  county  high  schools 
in  the  State.  By  the  laws  of  191 1  very  important 
changes  were  made.  In  this  year  a  law  was  passed  pro- 
viding for  the  establishment  of  free  county  high  schools 
and  authorizing  a  bonded  indebtedness  of  the  county 


THE   LEGAL   STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    85 

up  to  $250,000  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and 
equipping  such  a  high  school.  The  same  law  provides 
for  an  annual  county  tax  sufficient  to  provide  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  school  and  for  a  sinking  fund  for 
the  refunding  of  the  bonds.  Another  act  provides  for 
State  aid  for  manual  and  industrial  training  work  in  the 
public  schools.  Districts  of  more  than  5,000  inhabi- 
tants are  authorized  to  maintain  such  courses,  including 
instruction  in  elemental  wood  and  textile  work,  me- 
chanical and  industrial  drawing,  experimental  agricul- 
ture, mineralogy,  and  technical  mining.  Certain  courses 
for  girls  may  also  be  provided  for,  such  as  household 
management,  home  decoration,  and  needlework.  Tui- 
tion for  all  these  courses  is  to  be  free  to  all  pupils  of  the 
county  who  have  completed  the  fifth-grade  work.  Pupils 
above  the  age  of  fourteen,  together  with  adults,  may  be 
admitted  to  evening  classes  providing  similar  instruc- 
tion. A  provision  for  State  aid  to  the  amount  of  $10 
per  pupil  for  each  year  was  passed  at  this  time. 

Nevada. — In  1895  Nevada  provided  for  the  establish- 
ment and  support  of  county  high  schools  wherever  de- 
sired. Up  to  1906  only  one  such  school  had  been  es- 
tablished. In  1909  free  text-books  were  provided  for, 
to  be  furnished  by  each  district,  also  equipment  and 
materials  for  use  in  manual  training,  industrial  training, 
and  in  domestic  science.  In  the  same  year  school  dis- 
tricts were  authorized  to  issue  bonds  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  and  equipping  buildings  for  industrial  train- 
ing, mineral  training,  domestic  science,  and  agriculture. 
The  county  high  school  law  was  amended  this  same  year 
so  as  to  give  greater  encouragement  to  the  establish- 
ment of  these  schools.  State  aid  is  limited  at  present 
to  the  distribution  of  the  income  from  the  various  State 
school  funds. 


86  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

New  Mexico. — The  law  of  New  Mexico  provides  for 
the  establishment  of  high  schools  in  towns  and  cities, 
these  to  be  considered  as  a  part  of  the  public  schools 
and  maintained  as  such.  In  1905  there  were  only  eight 
of  these  schools  in  the  State  with  an  enrolment  of  491 
pupils.  The  State  supports  certain  normal  schools 
which  fulfil  the  purpose  to  a  degree  of  secondary  schools. 
In  1909  a  law  was  passed  authorizing  a  State  bond  issue 
of  $500,000  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  public  schools 
of  the  State.  Another  provision  of  the  same  year  is  to 
the  effect  that  one  half  of  the  money  appropriated  by 
the  United  States  as  income  from  the  forest  reserves 
within  the  State  shall  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  the 
county  school  fund.  The  law  of  191 2  (special  session) 
provides  for  the  establishment  of  county  high  schools 
upon  petition  and  vote  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  county, 
such  schools  to  be  supported  by  a  county  tax.  Tuition 
in  these  schools  must  be  free  to  residents  of  the  county, 
and  they  must  provide  courses  in  manual  training, 
domestic  science,  agriculture,  and  commercial  science. 
By  the  law  of  19 13  more  than  one  such  school  may  be 
located  in  any  county.  By  its  constitution  New  Mexico 
provides  for  a  State  tax  for  general  school  purposes. 

Idaho. — -Under  the  laws  of  1907  Idaho  provided  that 
a  pupil  might  attend  any  high  school  located  in  the 
county  in  which  he  resided  free  of  tuition.  This  high 
school  was  entitled  to  receive  from  the  boy's  home  dis- 
trict a  sum  of  money  which  but  partially  covered  the 
expense  of  his  instruction.  The  laws  of  1909  provided 
for  the  creation  of  rural  high  school  districts  and  for  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  high  schools  therein. 
Upon  petition  of  five  or  more  heads  of  families  in  two 
or  more  regular  school  districts  not  having  an  incorpo- 
rated city  within  their  limits  the  question  of  a  high  school. 


THE  LEGAL  STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    87 

must  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  these  districts  for 
their  rejection  or  approval.  The  laws  of  1909  provided 
also  for  the  establishment  of  agricultural  secondary 
schools  with  branch  experiment  stations  at  the  option 
of  the  regents  of  the  University.  These  schools  should 
provide  a  ''secondary  course  of  study  having  for  its 
major  function  vocational  education  in  agriculture  and 
in  farm-home  making,  not  neglecting  subjects  of  broadly 
educational  value."  The  laws  of  191 1  provided  for  the 
establishment  of  rural  high  schools  upon  petition  of  the 
people  of  the  district,  the  schools  to  be  maintained  by 
local  tax.  Tuition  in  these  schools  for  non-resident 
pupils  must  be  raised  by  district  tax. 

Washington. — The  legislature  of  the  State  of  Washing- 
ton by  its  law  of  1890  put  the  State  in  the  list  granting  a 
subsidy  in  support  of  free  secondary  education.  The 
law  authorized  the  establishment  of  union  high  schools, 
and  provided  that  such  high  schools  should  receive 
State  aid  upon  the  basis  of  a  two-thousand-day  atten- 
dance, no  matter  what  the  actual  attendance  might  be. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  law  provided  that  a  bonus  of 
$100  should  be  paid  each  year  to  every  union  high  school 
for  each  high  school  grade  maintained.  In  1902  the 
state  superintendent  in  his  report  pointed  out  that  the 
law  failed  to  accomplish  what  should  be  expected  of  it, 
in  that  it  did  not  place  a  minimum  limit  upon  the  length 
of  the  school  year  and  did  not  define  the  number  of 
pupils  necessary  to  constitute  a  grade.  The  legislature 
of  1903  remedied  this  by  setting  certain  definite  limita- 
tions under  which  the  school  subsidy  could  be  received. 
As  stated  by  this  law  a  grade  was  technically  construed 
to  represent  at  least  six  months  of  work  with  an  average 
daily  attendance  of  at  least  three  pupils.  In  June,  1906, 
there  were  33  union  schools  in  the  State  with  an  enrol- 


88  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ment  of  637  pupils,  an  average  of  less  than  twenty  pupils 
to  each  school.  Five  of  these  schools  offered  four-year 
courses,  eight  offered  three-year  courses,  fourteen  gave 
two-year  courses,  and  six  one-year  courses.  Four  of 
these  same  schools  received  State  aid  as  four-year 
schools,  two  as  three-year  schools,  eleven  as  two-year 
schools,  and  ten  as  one-year  schools.  The  largest  num- 
ber enrolled  by  any  one  school  was  eighty-seven,  the 
smallest  enrolled  by  any  was  four,  the  amount  of  State 
subsidy  varying  from  $272  to  $1,334.  In  1909  the 
entire  school  code  was  reconstructed,  and  laws  provid- 
ing for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  general 
and  uniform  public  school  system  were  passed. 

Oregon. — Up  to  1903  Oregon  had  done  little  in  the 
way  of  making  provision  for  the  high  schools  of  the  State. 
The  law  passed  in  this  year  provided  for  the  establish- 
ment of  district  and  county  high  schools.  County  high 
schools  might  be  established  by  a  majority  vote  at  a 
general  or  special  election.  Any  number  of  these  might 
be  established  in  any  county.  Provision  was  also  made 
for  the  payment  of  the  tuition  of  high  school  pupils  in 
any  district  high  school  previously  established,  the  funds 
in  either  case  to  be  raised  by  county  tax.  In  1907  the 
legislature  provided  for  the  establishment  of  union  high 
schools  in  two  or  more  adjacent  districts.  It  provided 
also  that  all  district  and  union  high  schools  should  be 
open  to  the  pupils  of  outside  districts,  the  home  district 
of  all  such  pupils  being  responsible  for  their  tuition. 
The  law  of  1909  provided  for  the  levying  of  a  county  high 
school  tax  for  tuition  purposes  upon  petition  and  vote 
of  the  residents  of  the  county.  The  fund  thus  pro- 
vided was  to  be  apportioned  as  follows  by  the  county 
high  school  board,  the  basis  of  such  distribution  to  be  the 
average  daily  attendance  during  the  school  year.     The 


THE  LEGAL  STATUS  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL    89 

total  amount  paid  to  any  district  must  not  be  less  than 
$40  per  pupil  for  the  first  twenty  of  such  average  daily 
attendance,  and  $30  for  the  second  twenty,  nor  more  than 
$12.50  per  pupil  for  all  the  remaining  pupils.  The 
total  paid  to  any  district  may  not  exceed  the  amount 
paid  by  the  district  to  the  teachers  employed. 

Any  district  of  a  population  of  20,000,  according  to 
the  laws  of  19 13,  is  empowered  to  establish  high  schools, 
manual  -  training  schools,  vocational  schools,  trade- 
schools,  evening  schools,  and  schools  for  deaf  and  back- 
ward children;  also  training-schools  for  girls  in  industrial 
arts.  The  law  provides  further  for  the  entire  support 
of  dependent  girls  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and 
eighteen  years  for  a  period  not  to  exceed  two  years 
while  in  attendance  upon  such  training  courses.  In  ex- 
treme cases  girls  under  fourteen  or  over  eighteen  may 
be  admitted  and  receive  such  support.  District  school 
boards  are  authorized  to  acquire  property,  and  hold  the 
same  for  the  purposes  mentioned  in  the  law.  Teacher- 
training  courses  are  also  provided  for,  but  no  State  aid 
is  available  in  support  of  them. 

California. — The  first  high  school  was  established  in 
California  in  1858  in  San  Francisco.1  In  1879  there 
were  only  a  half-dozen  high  schools  in  the  State.  By 
the  terms  of  the  State  constitution,  adopted  in  that  year, 
none  of  the  State  school  fund  and  none  of  the  State 
school  tax  could  be  used  for  high  school  support,  the 
intent  being  to  throw  the  responsibility  of  these  institu- 
tions upon  those  local  communities  which  felt  that  they 
could  afford  such  a  luxury.  By  1885,  because  of  this 
short-sighted  policy,  only  12  high  schools  existed  in 
the  State.      In  1890,  when  the  population  had  reached 

1  Cubberley,  E.  B.,  "The  California  System  of  High  School  Support," 
1912. 


90  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

4,250,000  there  were  only  24  high  schools  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  State.  In  1891,  however,  by  the  pas- 
sage of  the  union  high  school  law  it  became  possible 
for  two  or  more  districts  or  for  all  the  districts  of  the 
county  to  unite  in  order  to  maintain  a  high  school.  By 
means  of  the  union  of  these  districts  the  high  schools  of 
the  State  increased  to  98  within  four  years.  By  1900 
practically  all  combinations  possible  had  been  made,  and 
the  number  became  nearly  stationary  at  125,  with  many 
communities  still  unprovided  for,  however.  Students  of 
the  situation  saw  that  an  amendment  to  the  State 
constitution,  providing  State  aid  to  high  schools,  was  the 
only  way  to  secure  relief.  This  amendment,  adopted  in 
1902,  provided  for  a  State  tax  for  the  support  of  high 
schools,  and  under  its  provisions  the  number  increased 
very  rapidly,  there  being  229^11912.  In  1903  a  levy 
of  one  and  one-half  mills  was  made  throughout  the 
State.  For  four  years  the  same  levy  was  made,  this 
amounting  to  about  $15  per  pupil  per  year.  The 
legislature  at  this  time  gave  the  State  comptroller 
authority  to  levy  a  tax  annually  which  would  produce 
$15  per  pupil  in  average  attendance  during  the  previous 
year  in  the  high  schools  of  the  State.  In  apportioning 
this  the  whole  amount  is  divided  into  two  parts  of  one- 
third  and  two-thirds  respectively.  The  one-third  por- 
tion is  then  divided  among  the  approved  high  schools 
equally;  the  two-third  portion  among  the  same  schools 
according  to  their  average  daily  attendance  the  previous 
year.  In  1911-12  the  entire  grant  was  $526,265.21. 
One-third  of  this,  or  $175,421.74,  was  divided  equally 
among  221  schools,  each  receiving  $794.78.  Two- 
thirds  of  the  whole  amount,  or  $350,843.47,  was  divided 
among  these  same  schools  according  to  the  average  daily 
attendance  in  each.     In  this  year  the  average  daily  at- 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL     91 

tendance  in  the  221  schools  was  35,117  pupils,  making 
a  distributive  share  of  $9.99  to  each  of  these  pupils.  A 
school  with  an  average  daily  attendance  of  one  hundred 
pupils  would  thus  be  entitled  to  $999  from  the  two-thirds 
portion,  or  a  total  of  $1,793.78  from  the  entire  grant. 

Under  this  plan  of  distribution  the  school  of  20  pupils 
receives  $49.72  for  each  pupil  from  the  entire  grant, 
while  a  school  of  100  pupils  receives  only  $17.93  Per 
pupil.  This  gives  a  decided  advantage  to  the  small 
school,  which  is  as  it  should  be. 

Dr.  Cubberley  suggests  a  third  division  of  the  entire 
fund,  so  that  encouragement  would  be  given  to  the  pro- 
gressive school  with  several  teachers  and  with  a  broad 
programme  of  studies.  Such  a  division  would  distrib- 
ute a  one-fourth  portion  of  the  entire  amount  equally 
to  the  approved  schools  of  the  State;  a  one-third  por- 
tion to  these  schools  based  on  the  average  daily  atten- 
dance; and  a  five-twelfths  portion  to  the  different 
schools  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  teachers  employed. 
According  to  the  same  authority,  the  two-year  school 
should  receive  at  least  one-half  the  amount  of  the  full 
grant  in  order  to  encourage  the  establishment  of  small 
but  effective  schools  in  the  weaker  districts.  A  three- 
fourths  grant  should  be  allowed  to  the  three-year  schools 
on  the  same  grounds.  A  one  and  one-fourth  grant  to 
five-year  high  schools,  and  a  one  and  one-half  portion 
to  six-year  schools  would  prove  an  incentive  likewise  to 
the  establishment  of  schools  offering  graduate  work. 

Under  the  present  scheme  only  four-year  high  schools 
may  profit  by  the  State  subsidy.  If  these  other  schools, 
as  Dr.  Cubberley  suggests,  could  receive  a  proportionate 
share  of  State  aid  the  small  communities  would  be  able 
to  extend  the  benefits  of  education  to  practically  all 
their  young   people.     Not   alone   this,   but   the   larger 


92  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

schools  of  the  cities  would  be  encouraged  to  establish 
five  and  six  year  courses,  and  thus  offer  one  or  two  years 
of  graduate  work  in  the  high  schools.  This  work  could 
be  made  to  correspond  with  the  present  freshman  and 
sophomore  work  of  the  college,  or  it  could  partake  of  the 
nature  of  vocational  work.  Such  an  extension  of  the 
function  of  the  high  school  is  to  be  a  part  of  the  future 
development,  within  all  probability. 

Another  defect  in  the  California  plan  which  might  be 
noted  is  this:  The  present  State  appropriation  bears  no 
relation  to  the  per-capita  wealth  in  any  community. 
As  a  result  the  local  tax  levy  varies  from  the  very  low 
rate  of  less  than  a  half  mill  on  the  dollar  in  San  Francisco 
to  the  comparatively  high  rate  in  smaller  cities  and  dis- 
tricts of  five  mills.  A  division  of  the  State  fund  into  four 
portions,  the  additional  part  to  be  apportioned  to  the 
several  schools  upon  the  basis  of  the  local  tax  levy  for 
high  school  purposes  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of 
Vermont,  would  go  far  toward  "levelling  up"  this 
inequality.  There  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  the 
State  should  not  grant  a  subsidy  large  enough  to  cover 
the  entire  per-capita  cost  of  instruction  in  any  commu- 
nity, thus  leaving  the  local  energy  free  to  attend  to  local 
problems,  such  as  better  buildings  and  better  grounds. 
In  accordance  with  this  idea,  California  might  increase 
still  further  the  amount  of  State  aid  with  considerable 
advantage  to  a  great  many  communities.  In  the  ma- 
jority of  the  States  of  the  Union  this  problem  seems 
scarcely  to  have  been  sensed  as  yet,  for,  when  a  State 
offers  aid  upon  too  high  terms  for  the  average  community 
to  meet,  it  is  little  better  than  no  subsidy  at  all.  For 
this  reason  the  recent  law  of  Mississippi,  which  author- 
ized State  aid  to  the  extent  of  $1,000  annually,  provided 
a  costly  equipment  be  supplied  by  a  county,  is  of  little 


THE  LEGAL   STATUS   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL    93 

value  as  an  incentive  to  high  school  development  be- 
cause too  few  communities  can  afford  such  a  luxury. 
To  be  effective  to  this  end  the  State  must  carry  its  full 
share  of  the  burden.  Tuition  for  non-resident  pupils 
is  provided  in  California  as  in  Nebraska  by  levying  a 
special  tax  upon  those  districts  which  lie  outside  the 
high  school  districts  of  the  county,  this  tax  to  be  used 
to  pay  the  tuition  of  the  pupils  of  the  non-high-school 
districts  in  the  neighboring  high  school. 

It  is  perhaps  not  necessary  to  point  out  "the  best" 
among  the  various  methods  adopted  by  the  several 
States.  The  more  recent  laws  represent  attempts  on 
the  part  of  the  framers  to  meet  a  distinct  need  created 
by  new  conditions.  A  survey  of  the  legal  situation  in 
the  various  States  must  inevitably  enforce  with  striking 
clearness  the  fact  of  the  tremendous  sweep  of  the  pres- 
ent movement  toward  the  democratic  ideal  of  social 
and  economic  efficiency.  The  attempt  to  secure  a  more 
effective,  a  more  democratic,  school  system  on  the  part 
of  California,  of  Tennessee,  of  Missouri,  of  Mississippi, 
of  Wisconsin,  of  Minnesota,  of  Oregon,  of  Montana,  and 
of  other  States  to  a  degree,  is  a  fine  tribute  to  the  men 
back  of  this  movement  in  these  great  commonwealths. 
The  American  people  have  not  yet  lost  faith  in  their 
system  of  free  public  education.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  instances  have  been  few  indeed  of  attempts  to  con- 
trovert the  evident  desire  of  the  people  for  secondary 
education.  The  Kalamazoo,  Mich.,  case  in  1872,  in 
which  the  Supreme  Court  decided  that  taxation  for  high 
school  purposes  was  legal,  has  set  a  precedent  for  all 
later  cases. 

Educational  Expert  a  Public  Necessity. — While  the 
earlier  history  of  the  high  school  has  been  singularly 
free  from  legal  tangles,  the  present  status  of  affairs  is 


94  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

no  less  promising  than  the  past  has  been.  The  growing 
feeling  that  the  average  legislative  body  is  not  fitted  to 
deal  adequately  with  a  question  of  such  profound  sig- 
nificance to  every  member  of  the  State  bespeaks  an  even 
better  future.  The  example  of  Wisconsin  in  placing 
the  school  problems  of  the  entire  State  in  the  hands  of 
an  expert  commission  is  extremely  significant.  Such  a 
movement  is  bound  to  bring  results  of  tremendous  con- 
sequence both  for  the  State  in  question  and  for  others 
which  follow  the  precedent  set.  Until  we  are  willing 
to  set  ourselves  patiently  to  work  to  investigate  the 
school  situation,  to  uncover  the  weak  places  in  the  sys- 
tem, little  can  be  hoped  for  in  the  way  of  effective  re- 
form. The  expert  in  education  as  well  as  the  expert 
legislator  has  become  a  public  necessity,  and  only  through 
such  agency  can  we  learn  our  need,  and  then  plan  our 
remedial  campaign.  The  legislative  acts  of  the  expert 
should  give  us  a  higher  standard  of  education  as  regards 
parental  ideals;  the  length  of  the  period  of  attendance 
of  the  pupil;  teacher  and  supervisor  efficiency,  protect- 
ing the  child  and  the  school  from  the  pedagogical  quack 
and  old-fogy  (for  we  suffer  more  to-day  from  old-fogy- 
ism  than  from  inexperience  among  teachers)  by  driving 
them  out  of  the  profession,  or  into  channels  where  they 
may  once  more  "catch  up  with  the  procession";  cur- 
riculum needs  and  community  service;  besides  number- 
less others  which  challenge  attention.  Definite  action 
can  follow  only  upon  definite  and  clear  thinking,  and 
thus  only  shall  we  solve  our  school  problems. 

The  spectacle  of  legislators  groping  blindly  in  their 
attempts  to  meet  conditions  entirely  strange  to  them 
would  appear  grotesque  but  for  its  critical  seriousness. 
Connecticut's  scheme  of  State  subsidy,  for  example,  is 


THE   LEGAL   STATUS   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL     95 

a  burlesque  upon  the  subsidy  idea.  Under  this  scheme 
a  town  may  receive  a  greater  amount  of  State  aid  as 
reimbursement  of  tuitions  and  transportation  than 
would  be  required  to  maintain  a  first-class  high  school. 
Such  has  been  the  case  too  often  and  too  long  for  it  to 
be  considered  mere  accident.  Moreover,  if  a  town  should 
be  so  indiscreet  as  to  establish  its  own  high  school  and 
thus  provide  educational  facilities  for  a  larger  number 
in  the  community,  it  thereby  cuts  off  its  own  head.  No 
State  aid  is  granted  to  a  town  supporting  a  high  school, 
so  its  outside  income  by  its  own  act  is  cut  off  at  once. 
A  comparison  of  this  situation  with  that  in  certain  other 
States  where  a  careful  survey  has  been  made  previous 
to  remedial  legislation  should  certainly  leave  no  doubt 
as  to  the  efficacy  of  the  expert  and  as  to  the  urgent 
need  for  his  services. 

Despite  the  great  demands  which  are  being  made 
to-day  upon  the  States  and  counties  and  small  com- 
munities for  funds  for  the  high  school,  these  demands 
are  being  met,  in  the  main,  cheerfully.  And  whenever 
each  high  school  begins  to  pay  back  into  the  community 
in  the  form  of  public  service  even  a  small  part  of  that 
expended  in  its  maintenance,  its  financial  problem  will 
be  solved;  and  when  it  has  entered  fully  upon  such  a 
policy,  its  prosperity  will  be  measured  only  by  the  pros- 
perity of  its  community  and  of  its  commonwealth. 
Funds  will  be  available  always  for  experiment  and  for 
added  equipment  for  better  service.  Yesterday  America 
stood  for  opportunity;  to-morrow  no  one  may  even 
prophesy  as  to  what  it  may  mean  under  a  new  regime 
of  democratic  school  administration,  offering  the  needed 
incentive  to  endeavor  and  training  for  the  highest  effi- 
ciency both  in  the  community  and  in  the  State. 


96 


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CHAPTER    IV 

THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  AS  A  BUSINESS  ENTERPRISE 
By  Homer  W.  Josselyn,  A.M. 

ASSOCIATE   PROFESSOR   OF   SCHOOL   ADMINISTRATION,    UNIVERSITY 
OF   KANSAS 

The  High  School  as  "Big  Business." — From  the  date 
of  the  establishment  of  the  English  Classical  High  School 
in  Boston,  in  182 1,  there  has  been  a  marvellous  develop- 
ment in  the  field  of  secondary  education  in  the  United 
States.  Looked  at  from  any  angle — enrolment,  num- 
ber of  high  school  teachers,  or  buildings — the  figures  are 
stupendous.  Such  great  advances  have  been  made  also 
in  the  value  of  high  school  property,  in  the  annual  ex- 
penditures and  in  the  annual  income,  that  we  may  regard 
the  high  school  only  in  one  light,  that  of  other  "big  busi- 
ness" enterprises. 

Everywhere  the  importance  and  necessity  of  provid- 
ing secondary  education  to  improve  the  civic,  social, 
economic,  and  spiritual  welfare  are  recognized  as  never 
before.  It  is  difficult  to  find  a  community  into  which 
any  of  the  effects  of  our  modern  development  have 
penetrated  where  there  is  opposition  to  the  high  school 
as  such.  Since  the  famous  Kalamazoo  decision  there 
has  been  yearly  a  lessening  of  the  antagonism  which  was 
formerly  shown  by  a  considerable  element  in  every  town 
against  publicly  supported  high  schools. 

Extension  of  High  School  Opportunities. — The  effort 
American  towns  and  villages  have  been  making  to  give 

101 


102  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

every  child  an  opportunity  to  attend  a  high  school  is 
one  of  the  great  achievements  of  the  century.  The 
hope,  however,  that  all  classes  of  pupils  will  in  any 
measure  make  use  of  this  opportunity  and  that  society 
will  receive  large  returns  from  their  high  schools  is  not 
now  so  striking.  To  increase  the  enrolment  in  schools 
of  secondary  grade  from  the  industrial  and  wage-earning 
classes  progressive  communities  are  offering  newer  types 
of  courses  and  curriculums,  or  setting  up  other  types  of 
schools. 

Within  the  next  few  years  high  school  education  will 
cease  to  be  a  luxury — an  intellectual  equipment  only — 
and  will  become  a  necessity  because  of  its  practical  value. 
Michigan  very  recently  passed  the  law  that  comple- 
tion of  an  elementary  school  course  should  no  longer 
exempt  boys  and  girls  from  compulsory  school  regula- 
tions. Ohio  and  Indiana  and  other  States  imply  a 
similar  conception  in  their  recent  statutes.  This,  of 
course,  means  that  larger  numbers  of  pupils  will  enroll 
in  the  high  schools  of  these  States,  and,  as  many  will 
have  no  aptitude  for  book  knowledge,  the  further  de- 
velopment of  the  elective  system  and  larger  opportuni- 
ties for  practical  training  will  result. 

In  common,  then,  with  all  other  American  institu- 
tions our  public  high  school  has  grown  tremendously 
within  the  last  two  or  three  decades.  The  fact,  however, 
that  it  is  a  public  enterprise  has  retarded  the  develop- 
ment of  the  proper  standards  of  administration.  That 
there  is  an  imperative  need  for  adequate  business  ad- 
ministration is  more  clearly  seen  if  we  consider  the  facts 
for  public  education  as  a  whole. 

Statistics  for  Public  Schools. — In  1900  the  number  of 
public  school  teachers  reached  423,062,  and  by  1909  the 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE 


103 


total  increased  to  506,040.  During  the  same  period  the 
number  of  public  schoolhouses  jumped  from  248,279 
to  257,851.  The  value  of  school  property  in  1900  was 
$550,531,217,  while  in  1909  it  reached  the  enormous  sum 
of  $967,775,587.  This  means  that  to-day  more  money 
is  invested  in  public  school  property  than  it  cost  to  run 
the  federal  government  in  1910. 

Sources  of  public  school  revenue  have  kept  pace  with 
the  development  of  school  property.  The  following 
table  gives  the  main  facts  in  brief.1 


1900 

1  o°o 

Permanent  funds  and  rents 

$     9,152,274 

37,281,256 

149,486,845 

219,765,989 

$  13,746,826 

63,247,354 
288,642,500 
403,647,289 

State  taxes 

Local  taxes1 

All  sources 

1  An  increase  of  about  go  per  cent. 


A  little  study  of  these  figures  shows  us  that  the  amount 
of  the  local  tax  has  increased  90  per  cent  in  nine  years. 
This  is  all  the  more  remarkable  when  we  remember  that, 
while  the  country's  population  increased  20  per  cent  and 
school  population  only  1 5  per  cent,  the  income  for  schools 
increased  83  per  cent. 

Considering  the  cost  of  public  schools,  we  find  that 
the  expense  in  1900  was  $214,964,618,  and  in  1909 
$401,397,747 — an  increase  of  86  per  cent.  In  1900  the 
cost  per  capita  of  population  to  meet  this  was  $2.84, 
while  by  1909  it  had  jumped  to  $4.45.  The  total  ex- 
penditure per  pupil  for  common  school  purposes  in  1900 

1  Figures  based  on  Report  of  Com.  of  Ed.,  191 1. 


104  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

was  $20.21,  and  in  1909  it  was  equal  to  $31.65,  or  an 
increase  of  56  per  cent.  Accompanying  this  increase, 
however,  was  a  steady  falling  off  in  the  percentage  of  the 
total  common  school  income  devoted  to  salaries  for 
teachers.  In  1900,  64  per  cent  of  the  total  income  was 
for  teachers'  salaries,  but  in  1909  it  decreased  to  59.2 — 
a  decided  drop  and  one  that  cannot  be  realized  with  any 
degree  of  satisfaction.  There  was  a  wide  range  also  in 
the  enrolment  statistics  throughout  the  country.  In 
the  larger  cities  the  proportion  of  persons  six  to  twenty 
years  old  attending  school  1909-10  ranged  from  51  per 
cent  in  Richmond  to  69.8  per  cent  in  Cambridge.  The 
cities  with  65  per  cent  and  over  are  Boston,  Cambridge, 
Denver,  Los  Angeles,  New  Haven,  Oakland,  and  Worces- 
ter. Cities  with  a  low  percentage,  55  per  cent  and  un- 
der, are  Atlanta,  Baltimore,  Birmingham,  Memphis,  New 
Orleans,  and  Richmond.1  The  fact  that  cities  of  a 
small  percentage  of  school  attendance  are  found,  almost 
entirely,  in  the  South  is  largely,  but  not  wholly,  explained 
by  the  large  negro  population  in  southern  cities. 

One  of  the  very  interesting  facts  found  in  the  report  of 
the  commissioner  of  education  for  the  public  schools  is 
that  there  has  been  a  decided  decrease  in  the  percentage 
of  children  five  to  eighteen,  or  the  common  school  popu- 
lation in  the  past  three  decades.  In  1880-90  the  num- 
ber of  children  five  to  eighteen  increased  23  per  cent; 
1890-1900  the  increase  was  17  per  cent,  and  1900-10 
the  percentage  of  the  increase  dropped  as  low  as  15  per 
cent,  and  that,  too,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  our  total 
population  increased  more  than  21  per  cent. 

Important  High  School  Statistics. — Turning  now  from 
the  figures  for  the  common  schools  as  a  whole  to  the 
1  Figures  based  on  13th  census,  U.  S.,  1910. 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE 


105 


statistics  showing  the  increase  for  the  last  twenty  years 
in  the  number  of  high  school  buildings,  teachers,  and 
pupils  as  found  in  the  reports  of  the  commissioner  of 
education,  we  see  by  the  constant  and  rapid  advance 
clearly  the  interest  and  faith  of  the  American  people  in 
secondary  education.  Within  the  past  decade  the  in- 
crease in  the  value  of  property  used  for  high  school  pur- 
poses and  for  current  expenditures  has  been  marvellous. 
Never  have  any  people  shown  such  willingness  to  tax 
themselves  for  educational  purposes  as  our  people  are 
showing  to-day  throughout  the  whole  length  and  breadth 
of  our  land.  Some  conception  of  the  magnitude  of  this 
most  significant  sociological  fact  may  be  gathered  from 
the  figures  given  in  the  following  table  based  on  the 
statistics  found  in  the  latest  report  of  the  commissioner 
of  education. 


YEAR 

SCHOOLS 

TEACHERS 

STUDENTS 

1889-9O 

1894-95 

1899-OO 

I9O4-05 

2,526 
4,712 
6,005 
7,576 
IO,2I3 
IO,234 

9,120 
14,122 
20,372 
28,46l 
41,667 
45,167 

202,963 
350,099 

519,251 
679,702 
9I5,o6l 
984,677 

I9O9-IO 

I9IO-II 

There  were,  then,  3,500  more  high  school  teachers  in 
191 1  than  in  the  year  ending  June,  1910,  and  of  the  total 
number,45, 167, there  were2o,i52  men  and25,o±5  women. 
A  clearer  conception  of  all  the  facts  relative  to  the  in- 
crease in  the  importance  of  secondary  education  may  be 
gained  by  studying  the  charts  that  immediately  follow.1 

'The  author  wishes  to  acknowledge  gratefully  the  assistance  given 
by  his  pupil,  Mr.  Paul  Kruger,  in  the  construction  of  these  charts. 


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106 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE 


107 


"Scientific  Management"  of  High  Schools. — The 
public  management  of  a  material  equipment  worth  ap- 
proximately one  billion  dollars  and  the  spending  of  a 
yearly  budget  of  over  four  hundred  millions,  constitute 
one  of  the  biggest  enterprises  in  the  realm  of  big  busi- 
ness. As  a  rule,  privately  managed  corporations  are 
better  handled  than  state  or  municipal  affairs.     Fault 


HIGH    SCHOOLS 

1889-1911 


SCALE 


=  1000 


Chart  III 


can  be  found  with  our  American  citizens  for  their  at- 
titude toward  inefficiency  in  federal,  state,  and  municipal 
affairs.  It  is  much  below  the  standard  set  by  the  busi- 
ness world.  In  the  willingness  of  men  to  pay  taxes  and 
not  get  adequate  or  clear  information  as  to  the  sources 
of  revenue,  the  amounts,  and  the  expenditures  we 
see  another  evidence  of  the  indifference  of  the  average 
American  citizen  toward  affairs  of  government,  provided 
that  the  government  permits  him  to  handle  his  private 
enterprises  without  much  interference. 

Business  management  of  to-day  is  a  scientific  occu- 


HIGH   SCHOOL  DEVELOPMENT 


1695 

SCALE: 
STUDENTS    — 
TEACHERS    — ■ 
BUILDINGS    — 

Chart  IV 


=  40000 

=    2000 
s    1000 


108 


X 


« 


x=x 


X 


5  5 

u      111 

>    >■ 


109 


110  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

pation,  and  no  longer  is  it  possible  for  a  man  to  succeed 
whose  methods  are  out  of  date  and  inadequate.  The 
progress  in  business  accounting,   cost  fixing,   and   the 

HIGH  SCHOOL  ENROLLMENT 

NUMBER    OP  PUPILS 


PERCENT 

PUBLIC        FRIVATC 


22 

25 
29 
29 


SCALE:     MB    =    100000 
PUBLIC    SCHOOLS    OH       PRIVATE    SCHOOLS    CD 

Chart  VII 

From  1890  to  date  there  has  been  a  steady  increase  in  the  per  cent 
of  high  school  enrolment  found  in  the  public  high  schools  of  the 
United  States  and  consequently  a  falling  off  in  the  importance  of  the 
private  high  schools  of  the  country. 

elimination  of  waste,  by  the  use  of  every  possible  means, 
is  very  gratifying  to  the  student  of  administrative  and 
financial  problems.  It  serves  more  forcibly,  however, 
to  call  attention  to  the  vast  amount  yet  to  be  done  before 
we  shall  have  begun  to  attain  anything  like  the  present 


This  chart  should  be  compared  with  Chart  IX.  While  the  per  cent  of 
total  high  school  enrolment  for  any  year  from  1906-07  to  1911-12  found 
in  the  fourth  year  of  high  school  is  fairly  constant,  varying  only  from 
n. 7  to  13  percent,  it  should  be  noted  that  the  per  cent  retained  until  the 
fourth  year,  of  any  class  enrolling  four  years  previous,  varies  only  from 
37  to  39  per  cent  in  the  case  of  the  classes  1906-10,  1907-11,  and  1908- 
12.  This  proves  conclusively  that  the  high  schools  are  to-day  educating 
a  much  larger  per  cent  of  the  total  number  enrolled  than  the  figures  in 
Chart  VIII  would  lead  one  to  believe.  This  also  proves  again  the  tre- 
mendous increase  in  high  school  enrolment  each  year. 

Ill 


NUMBER     IN    CLASSES 


PERCENT    RETAINED 


CLASS    1305  -OS 

NO    RECORD 


78 

S2 
38 


68 
43 
37 


68 

49 
39 


SCALE: 


=  40000 


MORTALITY     IN      HIGH    SCHOOL 


Chart  IX 


112 


AS   A  BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  113 

level  of  business  efficiency  in  our  educational  and 
political  institutions.  Individual  and  social  welfare 
alike  demand  the  highest  and  best  possible  development 
in  the  handling  of  public  institutions,  particularly  the 
schools. 

Though  there  has  been  much  improvement  in  school 
administration  within  the  last  few  years  looking  toward 
a  more  effective  organization  of  public  school  systems, 
the  methods  followed  in  most  places  would  be  disastrous 
if  applied  to  private  business  enterprises.  If  we  could 
get  the  frank  opinion  of  capable,  unbiassed  business  men 
we  should  no  doubt  be  told  that  the  school  falls  far 
below  the  standard  of  "big  business"  in  administering 
its  work.  It  is  run  on  too  haphazard  a  basis.  It  pays 
too  little  attention  to  developments  and  methods  of  the 
outside  world.  It  deals  with  many  situations  in  an 
artificial  manner.  It  employs  incompetent  clerks,  makes 
long  and  unwieldy  reports,  fails  to  give  an  accounting 
to  the  people  that  they  can  understand,  etc.  Whereas, 
everywhere  in  the  realm  of  private  enterprise  the  im- 
portance of  and  necessity  for  vital  information  and 
accurate  statistics  in  regard  to  each  little  branch  of  the 
business  have  been  insisted  upon. 

Because  our  secondary  schools  have  developed  so  that 
we  can  think  of  them  only  in  the  aggregate  as  of  other 
"big  business"  enterprises,  it  is  imperative  that  busi- 
ness principles  of  management  and  administration,  tests 
for  measuring  the  quality  of  the  product  and  teaching 
efficiency  be  worked  out  by  schoolmen.  If  this  is  not 
done  there  will  be  developed  in  this  country  private  con- 
cerns for  this  new  field  of  public  service.  If  tradition 
remains  so  strong  that  the  conservative  office  superin- 
tendent and  high  school  principal  will  not  set  about  ac- 


114  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

complishing  these  results,  it  is  hoped  that  private  con- 
cerns will  be  called  in  to  make  surveys  and  check  up 
conditions;  and  if  in  the  process  some  of  the  old  regi- 
ment, pried  loose  from  their  positions,  later  pose  as 
martyrs,  let  us  waste  less  sympathy  on  them  than  we 
do  on  the  inefficient  clerk  who  has  been  supplanted  by 
the  adding-machine.  The  secondary  schools  must  be 
standardized,  and  in  doing  so  the  lame,  the  halt,  and 
the  blind  must  be  pensioned  off  or  otherwise  disposed  of. 
It  is  in  the  nature  of  a  business  and  social  crime  for  any 
city  to  maintain  on  its  payrolls  teachers,  principals,  or 
superintendents  who  are  not  thoroughly  qualified  to 
discharge  such  duties  of  their  positions  just  because  of 
their  political  or  other  affiliations. 

The  Unusual  Difficulty. — The  problem  of  the  business 
management  of  the  high  schools  is  a  very  difficult  one. 
The  opportunity  is  there  to  call  forth  the  highest  abili- 
ties of  the  most  capable  and  thoroughly  trained  men. 
The  business  manager  must  not  only  know  business 
principles,  but  he  should  be  well  informed  in  sociology, 
political  science,  economics,  and  commercial  law.  He 
should  have  in  his  employ  trained  men,  who,  under  his 
general  supervision,  organize  and  run  the  affairs  of  the 
school  board  in  the  same  efficient  manner  that  the  affairs 
of  a  large  corporation  are  conducted.  The  salaries  here, 
for  men  of  insight  and  demonstrated  business  ability, 
should  be  such  as  to  compete  with  those  offered  in  the 
great  industrial  enterprises. 

Movements  in  the  Right  Direction. — Already,  in 
some  of  the  larger  cities,  experts  in  business  affairs  are 
employed  to  handle  that  side  of  the  work.  This  busi- 
ness manager  is  the  executive  officer  of  the  school  board 
in  all  business  transactions.     The  dates  for  the  estab- 


AS   A  BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  115 

lishment  of  this  officer  in  American  cities  are  as  follows: 
Cleveland,  1892;  Indianapolis,  1900;  Boston,  1906;  Cin- 
cinnati, 1908;  Louisville,  Oakland,  Cal.,  1910;  Chicago, 
191 1 ;  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  191 2.  In  1905  Houston  ap- 
pointed a  business  representative  and  in  1909  Minneapo- 
lis created  the  office  of  executive  agent.  The  following 
rules  and  regulations  outline  the  work  in  the  latter  city: 

The  executive  agent,  as  provided  in  section  11,  shall  have 
direct  supervision  over  the  school  properties  and  the  mainte- 
nance thereof.  He  shall  generally  represent  the  board  in  all 
negotiations  relating  to  the  construction,  reconstruction,  repair, 
and  maintenance  of  school  properties.  He  shall  supervise  the 
purchase,  receipt,  and  distribution  of  all  supplies,  books,  and 
materials,  as  authorized  by  the  board.  All  requisitions  for  the 
delivery  of  supplies  shall  be  approved  by  him. 

He  shall  have  authority  to  engage  and  discharge  such  em- 
ployees as  are  necessary  to  the  conduct  of  the  activities  ex- 
pressed herein  and  shall  report  thereon  to  the  committee  on 
buildings  and  supplies  for  the  final  approval  of  the  board. 

He  shall,  prior  to  the  first  regular  meeting  of  the  board  in  June 
of  each  year,  prepare  a  list  of  janitors  and  other  employees  for 
the  various  schools  and  such  list  shall  have  attached  thereto 
the  salary  proposed  to  be  paid  each  person  therein  shown. 
Such  list,  when  approved  over  the  signature  of  the  executive 
agent,  shall  be  delivered  by  him  to  the  committee  on  buildings 
and  supplies  for  submission  to  the  board. 

He  shall  submit  to  the  board  monthly  a  report  considering  in 
appropriate  detail  information  relating  to  the  construction,  re- 
construction, repair,  and  distribution  of  school  supplies,  with 
such  suggestions  as  may  be  appropriate  thereto. 

He  shall  attend  all  meetings  of  the  board  and,  when  requested, 
the  meetings  of  standing  committees. 

He  shall  devote  his  entire  time  to  the  interests  of  the  board, 
and  maintain  such  regular  hours  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the 
board,  at  its  office. 

He  shall  give  a  bond  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duties, 
in  such  sum  as  the  board  may  determine.1 

'Report  Commissioner  of  Education,  ion,  p.  120. 


116  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

January  i,  1913,  the  board  of  education  of  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  authorized  a  permanent  bureau  of  school  effi- 
ciency. The  functions  of  the  efficiency  bureau  were 
outlined  as  follows: 

1.  Receiving  and  keeping  on  file  all  reports  of  enrolment, 
attendance,  and  progress  of  children  in  the  schools. 

2.  Analyzing  reports  received. 

3.  Presenting  salient  features  to  supervising  officers. 

4.  Reporting  situations  to  individual  schools. 

5.  Measuring  the  efficiency  of  local  educational  work  with 
that  of  other  cities. 

The  files  of  the  bureau  contain  the  following  informa- 
tion: 

1.  For  each  school  grade  and  special  class: 

a.  Enrolment  from  September  to  June. 

b.  Month  end  register. 

c.  Attendance. 

2.  Elimination  from  school  by  permanent  card  record — causes, 
grades,  ages,  months,  and  schools  are  recorded. 

3.  Progress  through  school  for  each  school  and  grade. 

4.  Contributions  of  teachers  and  principals  who  have  visited 
schools  elsewhere. 

5.  Replies  to  questionnaires  and  all  other  inquiries  about 
Rochester  schools  since  191 2. 

6.  Superintendents'  reports  from  other  cities,  state  and  fed- 
eral educational  bulletins,  and  other  educational  periodicals. 

7.  Newspaper  clippings  on  educational  matters. 

8.  Results  of  researches  and  surveys. 

9.  Blank  forms  of  other  cities. 

10.  Inventory  records. 

n.  Per  capita  cost  of  each  school,  department,  kind  of  edu- 
cational work,  etc. 

12.  Special  file  of  net  enrolment  from  January  to  December 
for  city  appropriation  basis. 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  117 

The  following  is  the  list  of  the  office  force:  one  director, 
one  assistant  superintendent,  two  stenographers,  and 
two  clerks. 

The  need  for  the  gathering  of  data  showing  the  actual 
conditions  in  the  high  schools  is  obvious.  If  secondary 
education  is  to  be  scientifically  managed,  and  if  business 
principles  are  to  be  established  to  measure  its  efficiency, 
facts  must  be  collected  and  used  as  a  basis  for  this 
administration.  Mere  personal  bias  and  unsupported 
opinion  must  be  eliminated  from  the  business  manager's 
office. 

Typical  Problems. — Among  the  problems  upon  which 
data  must  be  gathered  are  the  following:  First,  per 
capita  cost  per  high  school  and  per  elementary  pupil; 
second,  per  capita  cost  for  each  course  of  study  in  the 
high  school;  third,  per  capita  cost  for  each  year  in  the 
high  school;  fourth,  per  capita  cost  for  each  fixed  four- 
year  curriculum  in  the  high  school;  fifth,  average  num- 
ber of  pupils  per  class  for  most  efficient  work;  sixth, 
maximum  number  of  recitations  that  a  teacher  should 
have  per  day  and  per  week;  seventh,  maximum  number 
of  recitations  that  a  pupil  may  carry  per  day  and  per 
week  in  each  year  of  his  career;  eighth,  effects,  educa- 
tional and  physical,  upon  the  pupil  and  the  school  in 
limiting  the  amount  of  work. 

Superintendent  Spaulding  of  Newton. — We  need  more 
studies  and  reports  of  high  school  conditions,  budgets, 
etc.,  similar  to  that  one  recently  issued  by  Superintendent 
Spaulding,  of  Newton,  Mass.  Superintendent  Spaul- 
ding has  shown  graphically  the  equivalent  educational 
values  attached  to  the  different  high  school  studies  as 
measured  by  the  purchasing  power  of  a  dollar  expended 
for  class  instruction.     He  adds:  "I  greatly  doubt  that 


118  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

we  educational  administrators  show  any  greater  wis- 
dom than  the  average  housewife  in  the  disposition  of 
our  always  limited  budgets.  Unquestionably  the  first 
step  toward  improvement  both  for  the  housewife  and 
for  the  school  administrator  is  to  secure  definite,  de- 
tailed, and  significant  knowledge  of  the  actual  disposi- 
tion of  the  budget."  * 

Again  the  report  shows  the  apportionment  of  every 
dollar  expended  for  instruction: 

Comparison  of  the  costs  of  the  same  unit  under  different  con- 
ditions is  perhaps  the  best  starting-point  for  a  campaign  to  re- 
duce unit  cost  or  to  improve  the  quality  of  units  of  service. 
To  be  of  any  practical  value  such  comparisons  must  be  made  of 
costs  arising  under  conditions  that  can  be  thoroughly  studied. 
Of  what  earthly  use  are  our  interminable  comparisons  of  teachers' 
salaries  and  annual  expenditures  per  pupil  from  one  end  of  the 
country  to  the  other,  when  we  know  nothing,  when  we  attempt 
to  find  out  nothing,  when  it  might  be  practically  impossible  if 
we  tried  to  get  adequate  knowledge  concerning  the  quality 
and  quantity  of  teaching  service  rendered  for  which  varying 
salaries  are  paid,  and  the  amount  and  character  of  instruction 
given  on  which  per  pupil  costs  are  based? 

Every  school  system  presents  within  itself  abundant  oppor- 
tunity for  the  comparison  of  unit  costs;  the  conditions  under 
which  these  costs  arise  are  at  hand,  subject  to  any  kind  and 
degree  of  study  that  may  be  necessary.1 

After  graphically  showing  the  cost  per  one  pupil 
recitation  in  the  Newton  secondary  schools,  Superin- 
tendent Spaulding  raises  the  pertinent  query:  "Why  is 
a  pupil  recitation  in  English  costing  7.2  cents  in  the 
vocational  school,  while  it  only  costs  5  cents  in  the 
technical  school?  Is  the  vocational  English  44  per  cent 
superior  to  the  'technical'  English  or  44  per  cent  more 
1  Report  Newton  School  Committee,  19 12,  p.  100. 


AS  A  BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  119 

difficult  to  secure?  Why  are  we  paying  80  per  cent 
more  in  the  vocational  than  in  the  technical  school  for 
the  same  unit  of  instruction  in  mathematics?  Why 
does  a  pupil  recitation  in  science  cost  from  55  to  67 
per  cent  more  in  the  Newton  high  school  than  in  either 
of  the  other  two?  All  the  conditions  under  which 
these  varying  costs  arise  are  at  hand.  By  studying 
them  we  can  answer  these  and  scores  of  other  similar 
questions.  More  than  that,  so  far  as  the  conditions 
are  within  our  control,  we  can  make  changes  which  will 
vary  costs  and  quality  of  service  to  the  end  that  we  may 
secure  a  maximum  service  at  a  minimum  of  cost  in  every 
school  and  in  every  subject."  l 

Because  the  people  of  any  given  community  in  re- 
lation to  their  high  school  system  are  in  very  much  the 
same  position  as  the  stockholders  or  owners  in  a  great 
corporation,  the  directors  of  which  should  be  willing  to 
pay  large  and  increasing  dividends,  the  following  state- 
ment found  in  the  annual  report  of  the  Newton  school 
committee  for  191 2,  on  page  32,  is  very  significant: 
"If  you  want  a  detailed  and  intelligible  analysis  of  every 
expenditure  of  the  past  year;  if  you  want  all  the  prin- 
cipal items  of  expenditure  compared  with  similar  items 
of  other  years,  especially  of  the  year  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  last;  if  you  want  to  know  how  expenditures 
for  the  principal  items  are  running  for  the  present  time; 
if  you  want  adequate  reasons  for  every  expenditure; 
if  you  want  full  explanations  for  all  increases  and  de- 
creases in  expenditures  for  various  items;  in  short  if 
you  want  a  presentation  of  the  actual  administration 
of  the  Newton  educational  policy  set  forth,  just  as  fully, 
and  clearly,  as  the  policy  itself  has  been  outlined  and 

1  Report  Newton  School  Committee,  191 2,  p.  103. 


120  THE  MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

explained; — you  will  find  all  these  things  in  the  following 
pages." 

If  other  school  committees  and  superintendents  would 
make  similar  reports  the  practice  of  school  administra- 
tion would  improve  by  strides.  With  many  such  studies 
available  the  student  of  educational  affairs  would  be  in 
a  position  to  make  fair  and  logical  comparisons  between 
schools  and  school  systems. 

There  must  be  the  same  development  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  unit  costs  in  school  affairs  as  there  is  now  in 
the  business  and  commercial  world.  Per  capita  cost 
for  each  subject  in  the  high  school,  as,  for  example, 
Latin  I,  Algebra  II,  Chemistry  II,  Manual  Training  VI, 
should  be  shown  for  each  school.  Any  striking  increase 
or  decrease  should  be  commented  on  and  the  tables 
■  containing  such  costs  should  be  cumulative.  Again,  unit 
costs  should  be  established  for  first-year  work,  second- 
year  work,  etc.,  per  organized  curriculum,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, in  high  schools  offering  several  curriculums  (the 
Classical,  the  Latin,  the  Latin  Scientific,  the  Modern 
Language,  the  English,  and  the  Commercial)  the  cost 
per  student  per  year  in  each  year  in  his  career  should  be 
worked  out.  In  curriculums  where  the  work  given  the 
girls  differs  largely  from  that  given  the  boys  these  units 
should  be  carried  further  and  should  show  the  cost  for 
each  sex,  as,  for  example,  manual-training  cost  for  boys 
compared  with  the  domestic-science  cost  for  girls. 
Wherever  possible,  standards  of  equipment  cost  should 
be  established  so  that  in  any  given  city  enough,  but  not 
too  much,  money  is  invested  in  school  equipment. 

Methods  of  Obtaining  Per  Capitas. — The  methods  of 
obtaining  per  capita  costs  (the  items  to  be  included) 
differ;   therefore  there  is  grave  danger  in  offhand  com- 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  121 

parisons.  Extra  items  as  night  schools,  vacation  schools, 
playgrounds,  etc.,  come  in  to  increase  the  cost  of  ele- 
mentary education  in  some  cities.  Length  of  school 
terms,  size  of  classes,  studies  offered,  and  units  of 
measurement  all  have  to  be  considered  in  making  con- 
clusions. In  the  determination  of  costs,  then,  methods 
must  be  uniform  everywhere  or  no  comparisons  are  possi- 
ble. Analysis  and  classification  of  expenditures  must  be 
carried  under  same  ledger  headings.  There  should  be 
two  main  divisions,  too,  in  the  expenditures:  those  for 
educational  administration  and  those  for  the  physical 
administration. 

Legitimate  Variations  in  Per  Capitas. — Some  varia- 
tion in  per  capita  costs  in  our  secondary  schools  is  to 
be  expected,  even  in  cities  of  relatively  the  same  size, 
due  to  natural,  economic,  and  social  conditions.  The 
slightest  comparative  survey,  however,  of  the  available 
data  concerning  per  capita  expenditures  reveals  varia- 
tions that  are  not  only  startling  but  surely  more  than 
should  be  allowed  to  exist.  More  investigation  in  this 
field  is  needed  for  the  purpose  of  getting  data  for  a  closer 
relation  between  theory  and  practice. 

For  the  same  reason  the  great  range  in  variation  in  the 
matter  of  the  ratio  of  secondary  expenditures  per  pupil 
to  elementary  cannot  be  justified.  In  bulletin  No.  5 
of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  for  191 2 
Doctor  Harlan  Updegraff  sets  forth  the  results  of  a  care- 
ful study  of  the  school  expenses  of  103  out  of  the  184 
cities  in  the  United  States  having  a  population  of  30,000 
or  over.    Referring  to  table  1 5 ,  page  3  7 ,  the  author  states : 

It  may  be  seen  (1)  that  there  is  a  wide  variation  in  the  rela- 
tive average  cost  of  elementary  and  high  schools,  (2)  that  no 


122  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

territorial  lines  or  division  of  cities  by  population  can  be  drawn 
in  making  the  differentiation  between  them,  each  section  of 
the  country  and  one  State,  Pennsylvania,  being  represented  in 
almost  every  column.  The  extreme  variation  in  all  the  cities 
included  is  2.71.  The  extreme  variations  shown  in  the  tables 
indicate  that  proper  balances  are  not  being  maintained  in  the 
school  expenditures  of  some  cities.  More  money  in  some  cases 
should  be  spent  upon  the  elementary  schools;  in  others  less 
money  should  be  spent  upon  the  high  schools.  The  retardation 
and  elimination  statistics  of  such  cities  as  have  extreme  ratios 
should  be  carefully  studied  in  this  connection.  For  instance, 
Baltimore,  which  has  just  been  shown  spends  too  little  on  its 
elementary  schools  rather  than  too  much  on  its  high  schools, 
has  a  high  percentage  of  retardation  and  elimination.  More 
money  is  needed  in  that  city  for  elementary  schools,  both  to 
maintain  its  present  curriculum  and  to  widen  the  scope  of  those 
schools,  although  the  expenses  of  the  high  school  should  not  be 
diminished.  In  some  cities  it  would  be  a  far  better  distri- 
bution of  public  funds  to  take  away  from  high  schools  having 
high  average  cost,  and  high  percentage  of  funds  devoted  to 
them,  and  tc  add  the  same  to  the  broadening  of  courses  in  the 
elementary  schools  in  order  to  meet  the  needs  of  those  who  are 
backward  or  who  are  losing  interest  in  the  present  curriculum. 
This  is  true  especially  if  the  city  has  high  percentage  of  retar- 
dation and  elimination. 

The  question  arises  as  to  what  is  the  range  of  proper  ratio 
between  average  costs  of  elementary  and  high  schools?  Taken 
all  in  all  the  best  answer  for  all  cities  is  the  ratio  should  lie  be- 
tween 1.80  and  2.60 — a  range  of  .80 — with  2.16  as  the  best 
representative  amount.  The  two  former  figures  are  limits  of 
the  middle  50  per  cent  of  the  entire  list  of  cities,  and  any  varia- 
tion below  and  above  these  amounts  should  have  reasonable 
justification.1 

Range  of  Per  Capitas. — The  figures  given  by  Updegraff 
in  table  30  show  that  the  per  capita  cost,  based  on  enrol- 
ment, of   instruction,   operation,    and   maintenance   of 

"Bulletin,  1912;   No.  5  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education. 


PER     CAPITA     COSTS 


SECONDARY      EDUCATION 


POP.      OVER     300  OOO 

ST.  LOUIS     MO. 


BUFFALO      N.Y. 


POP.     100  000  -  300  OOO 

8CRANT0N     PA. 

I  ^^ 

MEMPHIS     TENN. 


POP.      50  000  - 100  OOO 

HOBOKEN     N.J. 
WILKES    BARRE     PA. 


POP.      30  000  -  50  000 

HAVERHILL        MASS. 


KNOXVILLE     TENN. 


COST 
1  « 83.20 


4S.50 


73.30 
25.83 


37.55 
25.47 


28.12 
11.12 


Chart  X 


123 


124  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

secondary  schools  in  cities  of  300,000  or  over  in  19 10 
ranged  from  $45.50  in  Buffalo  to  $89.20  in  St.  Louis;  in 
cities  of  100,000-300,000  from  $25.89  in  Memphis  to 
$73.30  in  Scranton,  Pa.;  in  cities  of  50,000-100,000  from 
$25.47  in  Wilkes-Barre  to  $97.55  in  Hoboken,  N.  J.; 
while  in  cities  of  30,000-50,000  the  range  of  difference 
was  from  $11.12  in  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  to  $26.12  in  Haver- 
hill, Mass.  From  the  above  we  can  see  that  the 
range  of  difference  for  all  cities  30,000  and  over  in  popu- 
lation is  from  $11.12  in  Knoxville  to  $97.55  in  Hobo- 
ken, N.  J.  Chart  X  gives  a  graphical  illustration  of 
the  situation. 

From  the  figures  in  table  32  of  Updegraff's  report, 
showing  the  average  annual  cost  per  pupil,  based  on 
enrolment,  of  instruction,  operation,  and  maintenance  of 
elementary  schools,  including  kindergartens,  and  of  sec- 
ondary schools  and  the  relation  of  these  costs  to  each 
other,  we  find  that  in  cities  having  a  population  of 
300,000  or  over  in  19 10  the  range  of  difference  in  cost 
per  pupil — ratio  of  elementary  to  secondary  schools  is 
from  $1.75  in  Minneapolis  to  $3.90  in  Baltimore;  in 
cities  having  a  population  of  100,000-300,000  the  range 
was  from  $1.66  in  Paterson,  N.  J.,  to  $3.15  in  Scranton, 
Pa.;  in  cities  of  50,000-100,000  from  $1.33  in  Wilkes- 
Barre  to  $4.04  in  Passaic,  N.  J.;  and  in  cities  of  30,000- 
50,000  from  $1.41  in  Topeka,  Kan.,  to  $3.50  in  Pueblo, 
Colo.  Chart  XI  gives  a  clear  graphical  illustration  of  the 
above. 

Interpretation  of  a  Given  Per  Capita. — Aside  from  the 
general  civic  problems  growing  out  of  such  figures,  it  will 
be  seen  at  once  that  many  misconceptions  concerning 
expenditures  per  pupil  for  educational  purposes  could 
easily  arise.     The  real  test  of  the  willingness  of  any  city 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  L25 

to  do  its  duty  in  the  educational  support  of  its  children 
in  any  type  of  school  may  be  measured  more  accurately 
by  the  per  capita  cost  per  adult  member  of  the  city's 
population  than  by  the  expenditure  per  capita  of  the 
school  population. 

Per  Capita  for  Elementary  and  Secondary  Pupils  Com- 
pared.— Another  of  the  questions  that  will  require  care- 
ful co-operative  investigation  and  study  on  the  part  of 
the  business  manager  and  his  staff,  the  superintendent 
of  schools,  and  the  school  board  is  that  of  deciding  what 
proportion  of  the  school  revenue  should  be  devoted  to 
the  elementary  grades  and  what  proportion  to  secondary 
instruction.  The  classes  known  as  the  grades  form,  per- 
haps, the  most  important  part  of  the  entire  school  system. 
Therefore  it  is  essential  that  in  spending  the  budget 
the  cost  of  high  school  education  should  not  be  in- 
creased to  the  detriment  of  the  elementary  school  devel- 
opment. What  proportion  of  the  budget  should  be  ex- 
pended in  each  division  of  the  school  organization  is  an 
important  and  fundamental  question  in  the  business 
administration.  The  allotment  of  the  proper  amount 
for  expenditure  for  each  grade  of  work  should  be  made, 
then,  only  after  careful  study.  In  cases  where  this 
apportionment  seems  to  fall  below  the  amount  required 
for  any  given  item,  increased  appropriations  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  schools  must  be  asked  for,  based  upon  this 
critical  analysis  of  costs  and  proposed  expenditures. 
The  whole  system  should  be  articulated  and  the  super- 
intendent should  work  directly  with  the  business  man- 
ager in  bringing  about  increased  appropriations  for  the 
schools.  In  this  connection  the  following,  from  an  ad- 
dress by  Superintendent  Holland  at  St.  Louis  in  1912,  is 
particularly  interesting: 


RATIO    OF    EXPENDITURES 

<  PER     CAPITA) 

SECONDARY    TO    ELEMENTARY 


POP.      OVER    300000 


BALTIMORE      MO. 


MINNEAPOLIS      MINN. 


POP.     100000  -  300000 

GCRANTON      PA. 

1 

PATERSON      N.J. 


POP.     SO  000  -  100  000 

PASSAIC      N.Y. 


WILKES    BARRE      PA. 


POP.    30000-50  000 

PUEBLO      COL. 
TOPEKA     KAS. 


RATIO 

a.90 

1.75 

3.15 
1.66 

4.04 
1.33 

3.SO 
1.41 


Chart  XI 


126 


AS   A  BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  127 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn  there  is  no  school  system 
in  this  country  that,  to-day,  is  spending  too  much  money  on  its 
graded  schools,  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  give  the  names  of  several 
large  cities  that  are  spending  entirely  too  large  amounts  on  their 
secondary  schools. 

Unfortunately  the  more  intelligent  forces  of  a  community  do 
not  wait  for  an  analysis  of  school  expenditures  to  make  known 
their  wishes;  they  are  especially  insistent  in  their  demand  that 
the  high  schools  be  properly  cared  for.  Generally  speaking  only 
a  small  group  of  these  same  individuals  will  visit  a  ward  or 
graded  school  and  demand  that  more  money  and  effort  be  ex- 
pended upon  the  younger  children.  As  a  consequence  the  great- 
est disproportion  in  expenditure  can  be  found  among  those  cities 
where  expert  educational  leadership  has  been  ignored,  and  where 
disproportionate  expenditures  follow  the  wishes  of  a  small,  but 
powerful,  group  of  citizens  who  do  not  understand  that  the 
granting  of  their  demands  by  the  school  authorities  will  entail 
hardship  upon  hundreds  of  teachers  in  the  grades,  lower  the 
efficiency  of  the  whole  public  school  system,  and  will  be  the  di- 
rect cause  of  increasing  the  school  mortality  at  an  alarming  rate. 

The  expenditures  in  the  city  of  Louisville  for  secondary  edu- 
cation have  been  and  are  still  out  of  all  proportion  to  what  has 
been  spent  on  the  elementary  schools  in  that  city. 

Superintendent  Holland  gives  the  details  in  establish- 
ing the  truth  of  the  foregoing  statement  as  follows: 

Louisville  is  a  city  of  slightly  less  than  one-quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion inhabitants  and  yet  a  year  ago  it  was  attempting  to  main- 
tain seven  separate  high  schools.  Three  of  these  schools  were 
for  girls,  two  for  boys,  one — the  commercial  high  school — for 
both  boys  and  girls,  and  a  colored  high  school  for  both  boys 
and  girls.  When  we  consider  that  the  city  of  St.  Louis  with 
a  population  of  687,000  inhabitants — three  times  as  large  as 
Louisville — is  to-day  maintaining  but  five  secondary  schools,  we 
can  understand  that,  relatively  speaking,  Louisville  has  been 
neglecting  her  elementary  schools  in  which  90  per  cent  of  the 
entire  school  enrolment  is  to  be  found.1 

1  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1912;  p.  468. 


128  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

In  a  recent  investigation  by  the  board  of  education  of 
Louisville  it  was  found  that  in  comparing  that  city  with 
Indianapolis,  cities  of  the  same  size,  the  enrolment  in 
the  two  Indianapolis  high  schools  was  in  excess  of  3,600, 
while  in  the  seven  high  schools  of  Louisville  there  were 
2,700  pupils  or  900  less.  Further,  the  cost  per  pupil 
based  on  enrolment  was  $58.77  in  Indianapolis  com- 
pared with  $76.76  in  Louisville.  Again  the  board 
learned  that  Indianapolis  spent  17.7  per  cent  of  total 
revenue  on  the  high  school,  while  Louisville  spent  27.3 
per  cent.  Also  it  discovered  that  Indianapolis  spent 
$34  per  child  enrolled  in  elementary  grades,  compared 
with  $23.32  by  Louisville.  This  difference  between 
these  two  cities  was  in  excess  of  $250,000  or  approxi- 
mately $450  for  every  graded  schoolroom  in  Louisville. 

Since  this  investigation  Superintendent  Holland  has 
this  to  say  about  the  conditions: 

Even  yet  the  expenditure  of  23  or  24  per  cent  of  the  school 
revenue  on  the  high  schools  of  Louisville  is  abnormally  high. 
This  disproportion  in  expenditure  for  elementary  and  secondary 
education  in  Louisville  is  probably  no  greater  than  it  is  in 
many  other  cities  of  this  country.1 

One  of  the  fundamental  questions  the  business  manager 
and  superintendent  must  keep  in  mind,  then,  in  the  de- 
termination of  the  distribution  of  the  school  budget  is: 
Are  the  school  expenses  distributed  approximately  as  in 
other  cities  and  are  the  items  in  the  budget  much  higher 
or  lower  in  cost  than  the  corresponding  items  in  other 
cities  in  the  same  general  class?  Referring  again  to  Su- 
perintendent Spaulding's  report,  we  find  that  in  Newton 
37  per  cent  of  the  total  expenditures  were  for  the  high 
schools.  This  is  considerably  higher  for  Newton  than 
1  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1912;  p.  469. 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE 


129 


many  of  the  Massachusetts  towns,  but  the  explanation 
lies  in  the  fact  that  25  per  cent  of  the  pupils  in  Newton 
are  in  the  high  schools,  while  in  the  towns  around  New- 
ton the  per  cent  is  but  15  per  cent.  Superintendent 
Spaulding  shows  that  the  high  school  enrolment  in- 
creased at  a  greater  per  cent  than  did  the  high  school 
expenditures. 

The  per  capita  costs  for  other  cities  in  the  metropoli- 
tan district  as  given  in  Superintendent  Spaulding's  re- 
port are  as  follows: 


City 

Boston 

Cambridge 

Lynn 

Springfield 

Somerville 

Maiden 

Everett 

Quincy 

Chelsea 

Waltham 

Medford 

Beverley 

Melrose 

Town 

Brookline 

Arlington 

Milton 

Belmont 

Wellesley 

Weston 

Winchester 

Watertown 

Totals,  towns  only 


SECONDARY 
SCHOOLS 


$7it7 
62.78 

49-34 

76.49 

44 -3° 
59-56 
61 .  11 
46 .  30 
62.25 

49-44 
46.68 

5°- 13 
43-03 


$83.42 

50-53 

102.83 

62.01 

71.82 

105.85 

56.15 
61.51 
71.80 


ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOLS 


65 
58 

56 

66 
94 
38 
96 
90' 


1  Report  Newton  School  Committee,  p.  116. 


130  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Another  important  thing  to  bear  in  mind  is  the  pro- 
portion the  secondary  school  budget  is  to  the  total  bud- 
get of  the  city  and  the  per  capita  cost  per  citizen  for  the 
secondary  schools  maintained  in  any  town — both  the 
total  cost  and  cost  for  each  type  of  high  school.  Some 
very  fruitful  comparisons  might  be  shown  graphically, 
as,  for  example,  the  cost  of  high  schools  compared  with 
other  departments  of  city  expenditure,  such  as  parks, 
board  of  public  works,  fire  department,  etc.  The  busi- 
ness manager  and  school  superintendent  will  do  well, 
therefore,  to  let  the  people  know  exactly  the  educational 
situation  in  the  community.  To  refer  again  to  Super- 
intendent Spaulding's  last  annual  report,  we  find  on 
pages  1 1 7-1 1 8  the  following: 

What  Valuation  Do  We  Place  on  Education?  The  final  an- 
swer to  our  efforts  to  determine  how  much  and  what  propor- 
tion of  our  revenues  we  can  afford  to  spend  on  education  will  not 
be  found  in  rough  comparisons  of  expenditures  here  and  in  other 
places,  in  which  we  take  little  account  of  the  local  conditions  and 
the  educational  activities.  The  general  question  that  we  have 
to  decide  is  this:  Is  it  better,  do  we  prefer  to  pay  the  cost — 
made  as  low  as  possible  by  economical  and  efficient  management 
— of  carrying  out  our  school  policy;  or  is  it  better  to  reduce  the 
quantity,  or  quality,  or  both  quantity  and  quality,  of  our  educa- 
tional activities,  in  order  that  we  may  reduce  the  cost? 

This  general  question  resolves  itself  into  such  concrete  ques- 
tions as  these:  Shall  we  pay  $67  to  $70  annually  per  pupil  to 
afford  700  boys  and  girls  a  commercial  or  technical  education, 
or  shall  we  save  our  $67  to  $70  and  let  those  700  boys  and  girls 
go  uneducated?  Shall  we  spend  $65  to  $70  per  pupil  each  year 
to  fit  800  boys  and  girls  for  college  or  other  higher  schools,  or 
to  give  them  a  general  academic  education;  or  shall  we  save  our 
$65  to  $70  and  let  those  800  boys  and  girls  either  go  uneducated 
or  seek  their  education  elsewhere  than  in  our  public  schools? 
Shall  we  spend  $140  each  per  year — of  which  the  State  will 
repay  us  one-half — to  teach  300  boys  and  girls  trades  and  skilled 


AS   A  BUSINESS  ENTERPRISE  131 

occupations;  or  shall  we  save  our  half  of  $140  and  let  these  300 
boys  and  girls  make  shift  as  best  they  may  as  unskilled  workers? 
Shall  we  spend  $40  per  pupil,  or  a  little  more,  and  keep  our 
elementary  school  classes  of  such  size  that  teachers  can  do  effi- 
cient work,  or  shall  we  save  a  few  dollars  per  pupil  by  enlarging 
these  classes  until  we  seriously  impair  the  efficiency  of  their  work? 
Shall  we  continue  to  spend  $30  to  $32  per  pupil  for  kindergarten 
training,  or  shall  we  abolish  this  part  of  the  school  system  and 
save  the  cost  of  it?  There  are  scores  of  similar  questions  which 
might  be  asked,  but  these  arc  typical  and  perfectly  fair;  be- 
cause if  we  are  to  reduce  our  school  expenditures  we  shall  have 
to  do  it  through  our  answers  to  such  questions  as  these. 
The  Newton  School  Policy  Cannot  Be  "satisfied." 

But  where  is  the  end?  It  is  impossible  to  "satisfy"  the  de- 
mands of  the  schools,  it  has  been  charged.  The  charge  is  justi- 
fied; but  so  far  from  being  a  reproach,  it  should  be  regarded  as 
high  praise  of  the  school  policy  and  of  the  spirit  of  its  adminis- 
tration. Satisfaction  means  stagnation.  When  any  policy  or 
when  the  administrators  of  any  policy  become  satisfied,  it  is 
high  time  for  a  change,  for  no  further  progress  is  to  be  expected. 
The  policy  of  the  Newton  schools  does  not  admit  of  satisfaction 
so  long  as  any  educable  boy  or  girl  of  the  community  is  growing 
up  without  education,  so  long  as  the  education  provided  for  any 
boy  or  girl  is  susceptible  of  improvement. 

"  The  business  management  of  a  system  of  schools  is  to  be 
judged  by  the  adequacy  of  the  system  of  accounting  and  of 
reporting  which  is  used,  just  to  the  degree  that  such  records  are 
a  measure  of  business  efficiency  in  other  lines  of  human  en- 
deavor. In  so  far  as  we  have  commonly  accepted  standards  for 
school  buildings,  one  may  judge  of  the  efficiency  of  the  school 
plant.  Efficiency  may  further  be  determined  by  the  degree  to 
which  the  business  management  has  succeeded  in  standardizing 
supplies  and  equipment  to  the  end  that  waste  is  eliminated.  It 
cannot  be  too  strongly  urged  that  neither  expenditure  per  unit 
of  population  nor  expenditure  per  pupil  measures  the  efficiency 
of  a  school  system.  The  question  is  always  not  the  amount 
spent,  but  the  return  secured  for  the  money  expended."1 

1  Bulletin,  1913;   No.  13,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Ed.,  p.  5. 


132  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

Financial  Reporting. — A  common  weak  point  in  the 
business  management  of  most  school  systems  is  that 
nearly  all  of  the  financial  reports  give  too  many  details 
and  too  little  real  information.  This  may  be  because, 
to  prevent  suspicion  of  corruption,  all  items,  no  matter 
how  trivial,  are  listed.  This  method,  however,  has  little 
accounting  value  for  the  student  of  accounts. 

Financial  statements  do  not  have  to  contain  all  classes 
of  entries  found  on  the  books.  Both  the  educational 
policy  and  the  business  management  would  be  more  effi- 
ciently worked  out  under  a  somewhat  different  plan  of 
organization  than  now  prevails.  The  development  of 
standards  in  business  administration  will  be  made  pos- 
sible when  we  have  more  adequate  reporting  in  this 
field. 

Qualifications  of  Administrators. — At  the  present  time 
there  is  a  particular  need  for  higher  qualifications  for 
those  who  seek  to  enter  the  important  professions  of 
superintendent,  supervisor,  or  principal.  Gradually  the 
standards  of  qualifications  have  been  raised  for  the  teach- 
ers, but  there  has  been  no  corresponding  increase  in 
those  set  for  the  higher  and  more  important  positions. 
It  is  not  hard  to  find  places  where  men  wholly  incompe- 
tent for  the  work  they  are  elected  to  do  have  not  only 
been  put  into  office  but  continued  there.  Examples  are 
not  rare  where  high  school  principals  whose  qualifica- 
tions for  that  position  were  not  adequate  have  been  ele- 
vated to  the  position  of  superintendent  of  schools,  and 
who  pose  before  the  people  as,  and  accept  the  title  of, 
professor.  It  means  nothing,  however,  as  every  teacher 
of  track  athletics  or  manual  training  is  given  the  same 
title  in  small  communities.  If  the  same  standards  of 
efficiency  are  to  be  applied  to  school  administrators  as 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  133 

are  applied  elsewhere,  it  will  mean  that  when  a  man  has 
ceased  to  be  efficient  he  must  give  place  to  another.  A 
further  increase  in  the  efficiency  of  the  school  adminis- 
tration will  come  as  the  result  of  functional  management. 
The  effort  should  be  made  to  segregate  the  important 
educational  functions  now  being  performed  by  the  school 
superintendent,  and  then  to  arrange  the  scheme  of  man- 
agement so  that  he  will  have  an  able  assistant  and  co- 
worker to  handle  the  business  and  financial  side  of  the 
school.  The  present  situation  of  the  school  superin- 
tendent with  his  many  and  varied  duties  is  the  first 
cause  of  the  inefficiency  resulting. 

Professional  Standard  for  High  School  Teachers. — 
Again,  if  the  high  schools  of  this  country  are  to  have 
developed  a  standard  of  work  and  a  method  of  organi- 
zation and  administration  which  will  be  in  any  way  com- 
parable to  those  found  in  the  business  world,  there  must 
be  secured,  before  this  result  can  be  brought  about,  a 
larger  number  of  better  teachers  who  believe  in  teaching 
as  a  profession  and  who  have  a  code  of  professional 
ethics  of  as  high  an  order  as  those  of  other  professions. 
The  teachers  of  our  high  schools  must  be  better  pre- 
pared before  being  permitted  to  enter  upon  the  work  of 
instructing  the  pupils  at  this  most  important  stage  in 
their  development.  The  teachers,  even  in  our  city  high 
schools,  do  not  spend  as  much  time  in  preparation  for 
their  work  as  the  members  of  other  professions  do.  Nor 
has  teaching  been  made  a  profession  with  as  definite 
and  adequate  standards,  set  by  the  profession  itself,  and 
by  law,  for  entrance  to  it,  as  is  the  case  with  the  pro- 
fessions of  medicine,  law,  and  dentistry.  Before  we  can 
hope  to  secure  such  standards  we  must  improve  the  con- 
ditions for  work  so  that  we  may  attract  the  best  possi- 


134  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ble  teachers.  Thorndike1  shows  the  training  of  high 
school  teachers  to  be  as  follows:  "Of  a  hundred  men, 
ten  have  had  less  than  four  years  beyond  the  elementary 
school;  forty-five  have  had  from  four  to  eight  years; 
thirty  have  had  eight  years;  and  fifteen  have  had  nine 
years  or  more.  Nearly  three  fifths  have  had  six,  seven, 
or  eight  years.  Seven  per  cent  had  from  two  to  four  years 
of  education  beyond  the  elementary  schools,  and  about 
sixteen  or  seventeen  per  cent  had  from  four  to  six  years." 

Need  of  Men  Teachers. — In  1900  the  number  of  pub- 
lic school  teachers  reached  423,062,  with  approximately 
30  men  in  each  100  teachers.  In  1909  there  were  506,040 
teachers,  but  the  number  of  men  dropped  to  approxi- 
mately 21  per  100.  This  relative  elimination  of  men  from 
the  public  schools  has  been  going  on  steadily  and  rapidly 
since  1880.  There  is  grave  danger  in  this  elimination 
of  men  from  the  profession,  throwing,  as  it  does,  the 
education  of  our  boys  on  the  shoulders  of  women,  and 
immature  women  often  at  that.  For  salaries  like  those 
offered  to  men  in  the  majority  of  our  American  high 
schools,  it  is  clearly  impossible  to  obtain  the  services 
of  men  of  good  native  ability,  sufficient  scholarship, 
training,  and  experience  to  enable  them  to  do  satis- 
factory work.  Teachers  are  expected  to  give  their  entire 
time  to  school  work,  and  many  boards  have  rules  which 
forbid  the  teachers  engaging  in  any  other  line  of  re- 
munerative work  during  the  hours  the  school  is  not  in 
session.  There  must,  therefore,  be  an  increase  in  the 
pay  offered  men  if  we  would  check  their  gradual  elimina- 
tion from  the  teaching  ranks. 

Centralization  Tendency. — With  the  centralization  of 
power  and  the  establishment  of  small  boards  of  educa- 

1  "Education,"  p.  255. 


AS   A  BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  135 

tion  the  tendency  has  been  gradually  to  lessen  the  bane- 
ful influences  of  politics  on  the  school  system.  One  of 
the  chief  problems  of  the  American  school  superin- 
tendent is  first  to  secure  a  competent  force  of  teachers 
and  then  so  to  organize  them  that  their  continued  pro- 
fessional growth  is  assured.  Both  of  these  things  are 
impossible  in  the  city  that  is  suffering  from  political 
interference.  The  teacher,  principal,  or  supervisor  who 
is  judged  in  his  or  her  work  by  other  than  educational 
standards,  or  retained  in  office  for  any  other  reason  than 
demonstrated  efficiency,  is  preventing  the  building  up 
of  a  spirit  that  will  attract  teachers  to  the  city  be- 
cause of  the  opportunities  for  professional  service  and 
secure  tenure.  Freedom  from  politics  must  then  be 
ranked  first  in  the  list  of  things  that  will  result  in  im- 
proved conditions  for  the  teacher  in  his  chosen  field 
of  work. 

Professional  Growth. — To-day  more  and  more  empha- 
sis is  being  placed  upon  the  necessity  for  the  experienced 
teacher  to  increase  her  intellectual  development  by  fur- 
ther study  and  to  restore  her  health  by  travel  and  recre- 
ation, so  that  she  will  continue  to  grow  and  thus  to  meet 
the  new  and  more  complex  conditions  that  are  found  each 
year  in  every  branch  of  high  school  work.  To  bring 
about  this  result  it  is  necessary  for  teachers,  principals, 
and  supervisors  to  be  granted  leaves  of  absence  for  study, 
or  travel,  or  both.1  Many  cities  are  considering  the  plan 
of  granting  each  teacher  one  year  in  seven  on  full  or 
part  pay,  with  or  without  a  written  agreement  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher  to  return  to  the  city  granting  the 
leave.  The  more  progressive  cities  do  not  exact  such  an 
agreement.  Teachers  are  not  local  in  their  influence, 
1  Spokane. 


136  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

and  the  greater  the  mobility  of  the  profession  the  greater 
are  the  chances  for  the  development  of  the  profession  as 
such.  It  is  too  narrow  a  policy  to  compel  teachers  to 
forego  larger  fields  of  work  made  possible  by  their  added 
development  and  to  return  simply  because  they  have 
been  recipients  of  a  leave  of  absence  with  pay.  A  better 
policy  would  be  to  grant  the  leave  as  a  reward  for  the 
previous  seven  years'  faithful  and  satisfactory  service 
rather  than  as  the  first  payment,  in  advance,  for  ser- 
vices to  be  rendered  at  some  future  period. 

Teachers'  Pension  Systems. — In  the  past  few  years 
there  has  been  considerable  advance  made  in  the  develop- 
ment of  pension  systems  for  public  school  teachers.  Sev- 
eral States,  Virginia,  Maryland,  Rhode  Island,  Wiscon- 
sin, New  Jersey,  and  New  York,  have  enacted  legislation 
looking  toward  a  State  policy  of  pensions  for  the  public 
school  teacher,  and  still  other  States  have  authorized 
the  larger  cities  to  inaugurate  this  necessary  reform.  "At 
the  present  day  the  consideration  of  pensions  is  being 
urged  most  strongly  both  from  the  standpoint  of  social 
justice  and  from  the  standpoint  of  increased  efficiency 
of  commercial  and  industrial  organizations.  The  ten- 
dency is  to  enter  into  such  plans  upon  insufficient  data, 
and  to  set  up  systems  which  can  only  invite  disaster  and 
disappointment.  Before  any  State  approves  the  sys- 
tem of  pensions  for  its  teachers  the  data  for  a  complete 
study  of  the  problem  should  be  gathered  and  the  best 
possible  advice  secured.  The  actuarial  point  of  view  is 
not  the  only  point  of  view  to  be  considered  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  pension  system,  but  it  is  an  indispensable 
point  of  view.  Those  concerned  in  these  problems  can- 
not fail  to  find  in  the  experiences  of  the  pension  system 
of  New  South  Wales,  of  the  New  Jersey  teachers'  sys- 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  137 

tern,  and  other  experiments  information  of  the  most 
direct  and  practical  significance."  1 

Wyoming,  Connecticut,  Iowa,  Maine,  Michigan, 
Washington,  and  Vermont,  and  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia have  all  had  bills  recently  looking  toward  the  es- 
tablishment of  pension  systems.  Unfortunately,  many 
States  are  not  only  inactive  in  pushing  this  matter  so 
long  left  unprovided  for  by  State  enactments,  but  they 
have  prevented  in  many  cases  large  cities  within  their 
borders  from  doing  so  on  their  own  initiative  and  re- 
sources. Two  States,  Pennsylvania  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, are  unable,  without  amending  their  State  consti- 
tutions, to  enact  any  legislation  of  this  character. 
Georgia,  Indiana,  and  Michigan  have  very  recently  failed 
to  have  the  proposed  pension  bills  passed  by  their  State 
legislatures.  Chicago,  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Boston, 
and  Detroit  all  have  pension  systems.  Cities  of  the 
first  class  in  Kansas  may  establish  such  a  system. 
Philadelphia  and  San  Francisco  also  have  a  sort  of  retire- 
ment fund  but  not  comparable  to  the  above. 

The  obligation  to  care  for  an  old  teacher  is  one  of  the 
fundamental  obligations  of  a  city  or  State.  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  our  relations  to  others  in  human  society;  and  while 
the  development  of  this  sense  of  duty  on  the  part  of 
society  is  slow,  it  is  coming,  and  even  now  we  can  see 
beginnings  of  some  promise.  It  will  come  more  easily 
and  be  of  more  value  when  it  is  brought  about  by  the 
growth  in  the  teaching  ranks  of  a  real  professional  spirit 
and  by  the  development  of  more  scholarly  standards. 

"Pensions  are  justified  upon  practically  two  grounds; 
first,  those  of  a  large  social  justice;  second,  as  a  necessary 

1  Seventh  Annual  Report,  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement 
of  Teaching,  New  York,  p.  23. 


138  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

condition  to  an  efficient  public  school  system."  On 
page  77  of  the  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Carnegie 
Foundation  the  following  question  is  raised  and  answered: 

Will  a  State  legislature  and  a  State  governor  administer  justly 
a  matter  in  which  the  general  government  and  the  chief  execu- 
tive have  been  so  weak?  In  answer  to  this  it  may  be  said  that 
a  pension  system  in  which  the  employee  contributes  does  not 
present  the  same  opportunity  for  political  exploitation  that  the 
Civil  War  pensions  have  presented.  The  man  who  believes  in 
the  future  of  his  country  and  democratic  progress  will  be  slow 
to  admit  that  either  Congress  or  the  State  governments  will  be 
found  permanently  incapable  of  carrying  out  so  simple  an  obli- 
gation. If  our  democracy  cannot  learn  from  such  an  experience 
as  that  of  the  Civil  War  pensions,  it  is  helpless  to  solve  the 
problems  that  confront  it  on  every  hand.  In  any  event,  the 
argument  that  our  government  is  not  honest  enough  to  conduct 
a  justly  planned  relief  system  for  its  employees  is  a  weak  reason 
for  inaugurating  an  unsatisfactory  system. 

One  of  the  great  weaknesses  of  our  public  school  system  to-day 
lies  in  the  fact  that  only  a  small  number  of  men  can  be  induced 
to  undertake  permanent  careers  in  it.  Before  we  can  hope  for 
the  best  results  in  education,  we  must  make  a  career  for  an  am- 
bitious man  possible  in  the  public  schools.  To  do  this,  dignity 
and  security  must  be  given  to  the  teacher's  calling,  and  probably 
no  one  step  could  be  taken  which  would  be  more  influential  in 
inducing  able  men  and  women  to  adopt  the  profession  of  teacher 
in  the  public  schools  than  to  attach  to  that  vocation  the  security 
which  a  pension  brings.1 

Cost  of  Living. — With  the  continued  and  rapid  rise  in 
the  cost  of  living  it  has  become  more  and  more  difficult 
for  the  teachers,  particularly  those  who  have  others  de- 
pendent upon  them,  to  make  adequate  provisions  for  old 
age.  Therefore  it  is  becoming  imperative  that  some 
method  be  devised  to  pension  them. 

1  Seventh  Annual  Report,  Carnegie  Foundation,  p.  70. 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  139 

Freedom  from  Political  Influence. — Before  a  city  will 
receive  the  full  return  that  each  teacher  is  capable  of 
giving  it  must  offer  inducements  to  its  teachers  for  effi- 
cient and  professional  service  of  a  higher  and  higher  order 
each  year.  Wherever  it  is  generally  understood  that 
"ability"  and  "pull"  are  required  for  promotion,  or 
"pull"  alone,  the  rank  and  file  of  teachers  soon  become 
convinced  that  they  have  no  great  chance  for  advance- 
ment and  allow  their  work,  therefore,  to  become  a  life- 
less matter  of  routine.  The  great  impulse  due  to  the 
inspiration  born  of  hope  for  advancement  is  lacking  in 
such  a  system.  The  necessity  in  this  connection  of  some 
adequate  scheme  for  the  measurement  of  teachers'  effi- 
ciency is  becoming  a  serious  problem  for  the  business 
manager.  Many  cities  are  losing  immeasurably  through 
this  lack  of  a  standard  which  will  make  it  possible  to  pro- 
mote on  the  "efficiency"  basis  and  on  that  alone.  The 
selection,  promotion,  and  retirement  of  teachers,  prin- 
cipals, and  supervisors  must,  then,  be  refined  along  these 
most  liberal  and  progressive  lines. 

Larger  salaries  will  also  have  to  be  paid,  and  that 
immediately,  if  we  are  to  maintain  even  the  present  un- 
satisfactory standard  of  teaching  efficiency  in  our  sec- 
ondary schools.  The  salary  paid  a  teacher  may  not  be 
a  just  return  for  the  services  rendered,  and  it  may  not 
represent  the  value  of  a  teacher  to  the  community,  but 
it  does  represent  only  too  well  the  small  amount  the 
city  is  obliged  to  pay  because  the  teacher  has  not  the 
keenness  of  the  trained  business  man  or  woman  in  look- 
ing out  for  his  or  her  own  interests.  As  one  result  of 
the  writer's  study  of  the  problem  of  increased  com- 
pensation for  high  school  teachers,  he  is  convinced  that 
no  material  benefit  will  be  obtained  until  there  is  an 


HO  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

increase  in  the  teacher's  efficiency  with  a  correspond- 
ingly larger  accomplishment  in  valuable  returns  to  the 
community. 

Thorndike  gives  the  facts  for  the  salaries  of  teachers 
in  public  high  schools  as  follows:  "The  median  salary 
for  the  men  is  $900;  that  is,  of  the  men  engaged  in  public 
school  work  there  are  as  many  who  receive  less  than  $900 
as  there  are  receiving  more  than  $900.  Of  a  hundred 
such  men  five  receive  less  than  $500;  fifty-one  receive 
from  $500  up  to  $1,000;  twenty-seven  from  $1,000  up 
to  $1,500;  ten  from  $1,500  up  to  $2,000;  and  seven  from 
$2,000  up.  Over  one  half  of  them  receive  from  $600  to 
$1,000  inclusive.  For  the  women  the  median  salary  is 
$650.  Of  a  hundred  women  twenty-two  receive  less 
than  $500;  fifty-nine  from  $500  to  $1,000;  fourteen  from 
$1,000  to  $1,500;  and  five,  $1,500  or  over."1 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  found  that  the 
wholesale  prices  in  191 1  were  44.1  per  cent  higher  than 
in  1897.  Measured  by  this  standard,  a  salary  of  a  thou- 
sand dollars  would  have  shrunk  nearly  50  per  cent  by 
191 1.  In  June,  191 2,  retail  food  prices  were  61.7  per 
cent  higher  than  the  average  for  1896. 

Sound  Accounting  the  Remedy. — Every  city  school 
system  needs  more  adequate  accounting  and  reporting, 
however  simple  these  may  be.  Sound  school  administra- 
tion and  educational  theories  can  rest  only  upon  sound 
financial  foundations.  Competent  accounting  and  pub- 
licity will  soon  put  an  end  to  unsound  educational  prac- 
tices. The  information  that  the  public  desires  from  the 
financial  agents  of  the  school  organization  is  merely  a 
simple,  honest,  and  intelligible  statement  of  the  actual 
status  of  the  school's  affairs.     In  educating  the  public  so 

1  E.  L.  Thorndike,  "Education,"  p.  250. 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  141 

that  they  will  support  the  school  system  in  its  now  rapid 
development,  due  to  the  ever  enlarging  of  the  field  of  its 
activities,  it  is  essential  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  a 
low  tax  rate  is  only  one  of  many  advantages  that  a  town 
may  offer  to  prospective  citizens,  and  every  effort  should 
be  made  to  show  the  economic  value  of  providing  liber- 
ally for  the  schools.  Aside  from  a  moderate  tax  rate, 
other  points  of  attractiveness  should  be  pointed  out  as 
means  of  increasing  the  population,  as,  for  example, 
fine  schools,  good  parks,  well-paved  driveways,  and 
adequate  fire  protection. 

Larger  Aspects  of  the  Problem. — To  think  for  a  whole 
State  in  terms  of  "scientific  management"  of  its  high 
schools  and  teaching  force  will  show  our  problem  in  a 
still  broader  and  more  fundamental  light.  To  get  some 
accurate  information  on  the  exact  situation  and  status 
of  the  high  schools  in  a  State  as  a  whole,  a  careful  study 
has  been  made  for  the  last  three  years  of  the  high  schools 
of  Kansas.  Judging  from  these  surveys,  no  part  of  the 
school  system  in  Kansas  stands  in  greater  need  of  reor- 
ganization than  do  the  high  schools.  It  is  not  unlikely 
that  similar  conditions  prevail  generally  throughout  the 
country.  The  growing  importance  of  scientific  manage- 
ment has  tended  to  make  the  haphazard  methods  in  use 
generally  all  the  more  noticeable.  In  fact,  the  problems 
are  such  that  they  require  for  their  solution  a  high  type 
of  men.  Granted  that  the  conditions  may  not  be  any 
worse  in  Kansas  than  in  the  other  States  of  the  Union, 
it  still  is  clear  that  the  problems  are  not  being  met  to-day 
in  as  satisfactory  a  manner  as  we  could  expect,  even  with 
the  present  corps  of  school  administrators.  Without 
disparagement  of  the  profession,  progress  must  come  if 
the  field  of  education  is  to  be  standardized. 


142 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


The  following  charts  and  tables  demonstrate  the  truth 
of  this  statement: 


TABLE  I 

Sources  of  Preparation  of  the  High  School  Teachers  for  a  State 


K.  U 

K.  S.  A.  C 

K.S.N 

K.  U.  and  K.  S.  A.  C 

K.  U.  and  other  colleges 

K.  U.,  K.  S.  A.  C,  and  K.  S.  N. 
Other  colleges  or  universities .  .  . 
K.  S.  A.  C.  and  other  colleges. .  . 

K.  U.  and  K.  S.  N 

K.  U.  and  other  normal 

K.  S.  N.  and  K.  S.  A.  C 

K.  S.  A.  C.  and  other  normal. . . . 

K.  S.  N.  and  other  colleges 

K.  S.  N.  and  other  normal 

Other  normal  and  other  colleges 

Other  normal 

High  school 

Special  school 

Totals 


214 
167 


39i 
11 

46 
7 

13 
2 

76 
5 

44 

42 

24 
25 


2d 


26 

3 

68 


87 

1 

7 


19 

16 


266 


3d 


14 
o 

3 
o 

27 


70 


Acad- 
emies 


62 


I 
O 

o 

3 
o 

14 

2 

6 

4 


Totals 


247 
56 

249 
13 


S67 

12 

55 
9 
15 
3 
94 
14 
81 

63 
40 

3i 


1,636 


Note. — The  classifications  1st,  2d,  3d,  and  Academies  refer  to  the  groups  that  Kansas 
University  has  divided  the  accredited  schools  of  the  State  into  for  purposes  of  adminis- 
tration. Schools  in  the  first  class  are  fully  accredited,  and  the  second  class  and  third 
class  represent  lower  degrees  of  efficiency,  and  therefore  they  are  not  fully  accredited. 
The  academies  are  schools  generally  attached  to  the  State  colleges  as  preparatory  de- 
partments. 


AS  A  BUSINESS  ENTERPRISE 


143 


TABLE  II 
High  School  Teachers  with  and  without  Degrees 


With  Degree 

Without 
Degree 

A.  B. 

Other 

Totals 

Without 

Totals 

ISt 

615 

114 

21 

Si 

192 
21 

5 
20 

807 

I3S 

26 

71 

391 

131 

44 

31 

1,198 
266 

70 
102 

2d 

3d 

Academies 

Totals 

801 

238 

1,039 

597 

1,636 

TABLE  III 

Training  of  Superintendents  of  These  Same  Schools 


Totals 

Degrees 

A.  B. 

Not 
A.  B. 

No 
Degree 

Degrees  From 

K.  U. 

K.  S.  N. 

I 

II 

Ill 

Totals. 

139 

77 
22 

99 
39 
10 

73 
3i 

7 

26 
8 

3 

40 
38 
12 

26 
6 
3 

II 

7 
0 

238 

148 

in 

37 

90 

35 

18 

144 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


TABLE  IV 

Teachers   with   Degrees   from    K.  U.,    K.  S.  A.  C,    and    K.  S.  N. 
(State-Supported  Teacher-Training  Schools) 


K.  U. 

K.  S.  A.  C. 

K.  S.  N. 

I. 

314* 

3i  t 

3t 

10  § 

67  II 

4 
0 
2 

25 
7 
0 
0 

II 

Ill 

Academies 

Totals 

358 

73 

32 

*  Includes  38  A.  M. 
t  Includes  3  A.  M. 


t  Includes  1  A.  M. 
§  Includes  4  A.  M. 


||  Includes  1  M.  S. 


TABLE  V 

Statistics  of  Summer  School  Attendance  of  These  High  School 

Teachers 


1st 

2d 

3d 

Acade- 
mies 

Totals 

K.  U 

192 

27 
212 

4 
37 

5 
280 
441 

34 
4 

76 
1 
5 

38 
108 

6 
O 

19 
O 

I 

18 
26 

IO 
I 
I 
O 
O 

54 
36 

242 

32 

308 

5 

43 

5 

39° 

611 

K.  S.  A.  C 

K.S.N 

K.  U.  andK.  S.  A.  C 

K.  U.  and  K.S.N 

K.  S.  A.  C.  andK.  S.N.  .  . 

Other  schools 

No  summer  schools 

Totals 

1,198 

266 

70 

102 

1,636 

SUMMARY 

Teachers  attending 

Teachers  not  attending. . . 

Totals 

757 
441 

158 
108 

44 
26 

66 
36 

1,025 
611 

1,198 

266 

70 

102 

1,636 

AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE 


145 


TABLE  VI 

Migrations  of  These  High  School  Teachers 


i  year 

2  years 

3  years 

4  years 

5  years 

6  years  or  more 

Totals 


ISt 

2d 

3d 

Acade- 
mies 

499 

132 

44 

34 

222 

67 

14 

21 

15° 

3° 

3 

II 

86 

15 

5 

IO 

56 

10 

0 

4 

185 

12 

4 

22 

1,198 

266 

70 

102 

Totals 


709 

324 
194 
Il6 
70 
223 


1,636 


TABLE  VII 

Departmental  Work  and  Correlation  of  Teaching  and  Prepara- 
tion of  These  High  School  Teachers  in  Ten  Cities  of  the 
First  Class  in  the  State 


Number  departmental  teachers 149. 

Number  not  departmental  teachers...  81. 
Number  teaching  what  prepared  to 

teach 182. 

Number  teaching  subjects  they  did  not 

prepare  for 48. 


Per  cent  of  total . 

6.-5 

Per  cent  of  total . 

35 

Per  cent  of  total . 

79 

Per  cent  of  total . 

21 

146 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


TABLE  VIII 

Departmental   Work   of   These   High  Schools  in  the  Twenty 
Kansas  Towns  of  "A"  File 


Departmental 

Not 
Departmental 

Totals 

I 

26 
O 
O 

74 

16 

2 

IOO 

16 
2 

II 

Ill 

Totals 

26 

92 

Il8 

Per  cent  departmental,  22.     Per  cent  not  departmental,  78. 


TABLE  IX 


Correlation  of  Subjects  Taught  with  the  High  School  Teachers' 
Specific  Preparation  for  Teaching,  in  Twenty  Towns  of  "A" 
File 


Correlation 

No 
Correlation 

Totals 

I 

48 

I 
1 

52 

15 

1 

IOO 

16 

2 

II 

Ill 

Totals 

5° 

68 

118 

Per  cent  of  teachers  who  are  teaching  what  they  prepared  to  teach,  42. 
Per  cent  of  teachers  who  are  not  teaching  what  they  prepared  to 
teach,  58. 


AS   A  BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE 


147 


TABLE   X 

Number  of  These  High  School  Teachers  and  Number  of  Dif- 
ferent Groupings  of  Subjects  in  Twenty  Towns  of  "A"  File 


No.  Teachers 

No.  Different 
Groupings 

I 

IOO 

16 

2 

66 
16 

2 

II 

Ill 

TABLE  XI 


A  List  of  Some  of  the  "Unscientific"  or  Haphazard  Combinations 
Found  in  Twenty  Towns  of  the  "A"  File 

/.    First  Class 

i.  Chemistry,  Physics,  Botany,  Physiography,  Physiology. 

2.  Mathematics,  Physics,  Commercial  Law,  Agriculture. 

3.  History,  Algebra,  Agriculture,  Chemistry. 

4.  Agriculture,  Physics,  Geometry,  Psychology,  Methods,  Supervision. 

5.  Latin,  Commercial  Law,  Manual  Training. 

6.  Domestic  Science,   Domestic  Art,  Normal  Training,   Physiology, 

Botany. 

7.  Algebra,  Arithmetic,  Geometry,  Physics,  History. 

8.  Latin,  Domestic  Science,  Physiology,  Arithmetic. 

9.  Mathematics,  Normal  Training,  Physics,  Commercial  Course. 

10.  Business  Subjects,  English  History,  Physical  Geography,  Commer- 
cial Geography. 

//.    Second  Class 

1.  Physics,  General  Science,  German,  English,  Geometry. 

2.  Botany,  Latin,  German,  Geometry. 

3.  English,   Algebra,   History,    Commercial   Arithmetic,    Commercial 

Geography. 


148 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


CHART  A 

Shows   Sources   of   Preparation  of  High  School  Teachers  of 

Kansas 

1 981  University  or  College 

II 258  University  or  College  and  Normal 

1,239 

III 326  Normal 

IV 40  High  School 

V 31  Special 

Total 1,636 


CHART  B 


Shows  Training  of  Teachers  on  Same  Plan  as  Chart  "A,"  but 
Gives  Details  for  Each  Type  of  Accredited  School  Rather 
than  Total  for  All  Four  Classes 


ISt 

2d 

3d 

Acade- 
mies 

Totals 

University  or  College 

University    or    College    and 
Normal 

746 

189 

214 

24 

25 

130 

39 
92 

4* 
1* 

34 

11 

18 
6* 
1* 

71 

19 
2* 

6* 
4* 

981 

258 

326 

40 

31 

Normal 

High  School 

Special 

Totals 

1,198 

266 

70 

182 

1,636 

'  Not  shown  on  chart. 


Sources  ofPreparation  ofTotalNumberof 
High  Schoolteachers  of  Kansas  Reporting 


Univ.  or  College 

Univ.  or  College 

&Nqrhal 

Normal 

High  School 

Special 


scale  b=100 


Teachers  by  Schools 

=:                         Second    •• 

B 

Third       ■ 

■ 

Academies 

m 

University    or  College 

ES 

&  Normal 

C=l 

Normal 

□ 

High  School 

m 

Special 

B 


SCALE  m       =100 

149 


150 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


CHART  C 

This  Chart  Shows  Total  Number  of  Teachers  With  Degrees  and 
Total  Number  Without 


With 

Without 

Totals 

I 

807 

135 
26 

71 

391 
131 

44 
3i 

1,198 

266 

70 

102 

II 

III..             

Academies 

Totals 

1,039 

597 

1,636 

- 

CHART  D 


Shows  Total  Number  of  Superintendents  With  and  Without 

Degrees 


With 

Without 

Totals 

I 

99 
39 
10 

40 
38 

12 

139 
77 
22 

II 

Ill 

Totals 

148 

90 

238 

Degrees 

■m    Teachers  With 


Teachers  Without 


SCALE  Ms  100 


Training     of     Superintendents        ° 
— — — ■        ,      i  Total 


■3 


First    Class 
Second     » 
Third 


■   With        Degrees 
q   Without 

scale     ■     z    18 

151 


152 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


CHART  E 


Shows    Number     of    Teachers    With    Degrees    from    K.   U., 
K.  S.  A.  C,  and  K.  S.  N. 


K.U. 

K.  S.  A.  C. 

K.  S.  N. 

I 

3H 

31 

3 

10 

67 

4 
0 
2 

25 

7 
0 
0 

II..                   

Ill 

Academies 

Totals 

358 

73 

32 

CHART  F 


Shows  Comparison  Between  Number  of  Teachers  Who  Received 
Training  in  K.  U.  and  in  K.  S.  N.  Teachers  Who  Have  Been 
at  Both  a  Normal  School  and  College  Not  Included  in  List 


1 

II 

III 

Acade- 
mies 

Totals 

K.U 

K.S.N 

293 
172 

39 
76 

7 
15 

7 
0 

346 
263 

Teachers  With  Degrees  From 
K.U..  K.S.A.C.AND  K.S.N. 
K  U 

KS.A.C 

K.SM. 


SCALE       m      z     SO 


Teachers  From  K.U. and  K.S.N. 

Total  All  Schools 

First  Class 

Second  ■• 
c  Third 

i  Academies 

■  K.U. 
□  K.S.K. 

SCALE     m     -  SO 

153 


154 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


CHART  G 

Shows  the  Summaries  for  Summer  School  Statistics.    For  De- 
tails See  Table  V 


Attending 

Not 
Attending 

I 

757 

158 

44 

66 

441 

108 

26 

36 

II 

Ill 

Academies 

Totals 

1,025 

6ll 

CHART  H 


Shows  Length  of  Time  Teachers  Have  Been  in  Present  Positions. 
Only  Totals  are  Given  Here.    For  Details  See  Table  VI 


1  year 709 

2  years 324 

3  years 194 

4  years 116 

5  years 70 

6  years 223 

1,636 


Summer  Schools 
■hi    Total  Enrolled  In 
"    Not 


■b  1  Teachers  Attending 

Not 

wm  2.1EACHERS  ATTENDING 

■  Not 

■  3.TEACHERS  Attending 

Not 

■  ATeachers  Attending 
•  Not 

SCALE    -  •  100 


Teachers  In  Present  Position 
One  Year 
TWo  Years 
Three  Years 
Four  Years 
Rve  Years 
Six      Years 


SCALE        m      a   100 

155 


156 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


CHART  I 

Shows  Migration  of  Teachers 


I 

II 

III 

Acade- 
mies 

Totals 

Teachers  Reappointed 

Teachers  in  New  Positions 

699 
499 

134 
132 

26 
44 

68 
34 

927 
709 

1,198 

266 

70 

102 

1,636 

CHART  J 

Shows  to  What  Extent  High  School  Teachers  in  Ten  Cities  of 
the  First  Class  May  be  Classified  as  Departmental  Teachers 


Departmental  teachers 149 

Not  departmental  teachers 81 

Per  cent  departmental  teachers 65 

Per  cent  not  departmental  teachers 35 


First  Class 
mKZ3  Second    •• 

c  Third       ■ 

m  Academies 

■     Teachers     Reappointed 
□  ••  In  New  Positions 

SCALE       m      =100 


Teachers  In  10  Cities  First  Class 
—^im—m—m     DEPARTMENTAL 

Not 

Departmental  65  Per  Cent 
Not  35    " 

SCALE     m    ■    IB 

157 


J 


5 


|J      10 

2  a   ■ 


■   s 


5    8      5!      2 


I 


X 

52 

j 

ID 
Z 
U 


a 

1  r    s 

i  I 

B  S    0 


158 


159 


160  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

In  the  foregoing  tables  and  charts  there  are  many 
points  that  have  particular  interest  for  those  who  are 
working  to  bring  about  the  conditions  in  our  high  schools 
that  will  make  for  greater  efficiency  and  better  business 
administration.  Some  of  these  may  be  outlined  very 
briefly. 

Training  of  Teachers. — The  first  and  most  striking 
point  is  that,  in  regard  to  the  training  of  the  teachers, 
professionally  and  otherwise,  for  their  work  as  educa- 
tors, the  Kansas  teaching  corps  represents  nearly  every 
type  of  training  that  one  could  find.  While  table  I  sets 
forth  these  types  under  eighteen  main  headings,  many 
times  that  number  would  be  necessary  if  one  attempted 
an  adequate  representation  of  the  situation.  Many  of 
the  teachers  have  failed  to  make  any  preparation  for  the 
serious  work  of  teaching.  Many  more  have  prepared 
for  other  professions  and  vocations  and  have  drifted  into 
teaching  possibly  after  failing  to  make  a  success  in  their 
chosen  field  of  work. 

Teachers  and  Superintendents  with  Degrees. — The 
table  showing  the  number  of  superintendents  with  de- 
grees and  those  without  indicates  very  clearly  the  lack 
of  any  adequate  standard  of  qualifications  for  the  work 
of  superintending  a  school  system.  Similarly,  the  table 
in  which  the  situation  for  teachers,  principals,  and  super- 
intendents combined  is  set  forth,  makes  it  evident  that 
our  high  schools  are,  as  a  rule,  below  the  standard  in  the 
preparation  of  their  teachers.  It  serves  to  explain  also 
some  of  the  reasons  for  the  lower  efficiency  of  Kansas  as 
compared  with  some  other  States. 

Summer  Schools. — The  table  on  summer  schools  gives 
very  complete  statistics,  but  does  not  indicate  exactly 
to  what  extent  teachers  have  attended  summer  sessions 


AS  A  BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  1G1 

to  gain,  by  further  study,  a  better  professional  equip- 
ment and  added  efficiency. 

Migrations  of  Teachers. — It  has  always  been  known 
to  thoughtful  schoolmen  that  teachers,  principals,  and 
superintendents  migrate  very  frequently  from  town  to 
town.  This  is  largely  due  to  the  following  two  reasons: 
first,  a  move  for  a  higher  salary;  second,  the  failure  to 
succeed  in  a  given  place.  Some  changes  are  necessary 
and  desirable,  no  doubt,  but  the  Kansas  high  schools  are 
lowering  their  efficiency  and  are  costing  more,  financially 
and  otherwise  (due  to  a  larger  number  of  failures,  etc.), 
because  of  this  constant  introduction  of  new  teachers. 
Cases  are  not  infrequent  where  the  whole  staff  is  changed 
every  year. 

Departmental  Teaching. — Another  interesting  fact  is 
that  in  regard  to  the  relative  proportion  of  the  high  school 
teachers  who  may  be  classified  as  departmental  teachers, 
as  compared  with  those  whose  work  is  found  in  more 
than  one  department.  In  the  ten  cities  of  the  first  class 
(political  classification),  where  the  most  favorable  con- 
ditions for  school  work  are  found,  only  65  per  cent  are 
departmental  teachers.  This  per  cent  is  very  largely 
increased,  too,  by  the  presence  in  these  schools  of  teach- 
ers of  domestic  science  and  art,  manual  training,  com- 
mercial subjects,  music,  and  physical  training.  The 
situation  in  the  twenty  towns  of  the  "A"  file  is  very 
different,  as  there  the  departmental  teachers  were  very 
few — only  22  per  cent. 

Correlation  of  Preparation  and  Teaching. — In  respect 
to  the  correlation  between  the  subjects  the  teachers  are 
teaching  and  the  subjects  they  prepared  to  teach,  it 
was  found  that  79  per  cent  of  the  teachers  in  the  ten 
cities  of  the  first  class  were  actually  teaching  the  branches 


162  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

they  prepared  to  teach.  In  the  twenty  cities  in  the  "A" 
file  results  were  somewhat  different  as  less  than  half  the 
teachers  had  prepared  to  teach  the  subjects  they. were 
teaching  at  the  time  of  the  survey.  The  percentage  in 
this  case  was  42. 

Assignment  of  Teachers. — Probably  the  most  interest- 
ing charts  for  school  administrators  are  Charts  K  and  L, 
because  they  represent  a  very  serious  situation  which  is 
so  important  that  it  may  be  profitably  discussed  here. 
The  fact  that  in  such  fundamental  studies  as  mathe- 
matics, history,  Latin,  and  English  there  was  such  a 
large  percentage  of  teachers  unprepared  for  the  work, 
and  the  further  fact  that  there  were  available  in  the  State 
at  the  same  time  an  equal  number  of  teachers,  or  nearly 
so,  who  were  prepared  to  teach  these  subjects  and  anx- 
ious to  do  so,  show  that  there  are  no  principles  of  bus- 
iness administration  employed  in  assigning  subjects  to 
teachers.  This  indicates  also  that  principals,  superin- 
tendents, and  school  boards  seek  teachers  to  fill  vacancies 
rather  than  teachers  for  specific  subjects.  A  part  of  the 
fault  lies,  no  doubt,  at  the  door  of  the  principal  for  the 
wrong  assignment  of  teachers,  but  the  main  difficulty 
arises  from  the  fact  that  the  superintendents  have  not 
assumed  the  responsibility  of  getting  competent  teachers 
for  each  position.  A  part  of  the  explanation  may  be 
found  in  the  political  situation,  making  room  for  home 
talent  even  when  there  is  no  opening  in  the  department 
in  which  the  applicant  is  prepared  to  work.  It  is  too 
often  the  case  that  a  school  board  acts  in  such  mat- 
ters with  reference  to  its  personal  attitude  toward  the 
teacher  as  a  person  rather  than  chiefly  in  the  interests  of 
the  students  who  are  to  be  served.  The  charts  show  clearly 
that  the  problems  to  be  solved  are,  first,  to  reduce  the 
size  of  the  group  of  teachers  who  are  teaching  with  no 


AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE  163 

specific  preparation  for  the  work,  and,  second,  to  reduce 
the  size  of  the  group  of  those  prepared  to  teach  a  given 
subject,  yet  who  are  teaching  other  subjects,  by  grad- 
ually placing  these  teachers  in  the  departments  in  which 
they  are  best  qualified  to  work.  The  whole  situation 
calls  for  a  thoroughgoing,  co-operative  effort  to  adjust 
teaching  assets  to  demands.  It  is  scientific  management 
of  the  teaching  resources  of  a  State  that  is  here  de- 
manded. The  teacher  problem  is,  in  a  fundamental 
sense,  the  educational  problem. 

Different  Combinations  of  Subjects. — Table  II  indi- 
cates as  well  as  anything  possibly  could  the  utter  lack  of 
standards  or  principles  for  high  school  procedure.  There 
seems  to  be  no  logic  nor  system  in  any  of  the  schools  in 
this  respect.  In  most  cases  it  is  clearly  an  arbitrary  as- 
signment and  shows  the  entire  absence  of  efficient  organi- 
zation— a  broad  and  sound  policy  of  administration. 

Conclusion. — The  purpose  throughout  this  chapter  has 
been  to  present  some  of  the  main  features  of  American 
school  administration  as  they  now  appear,  calling  atten- 
tion to  the  newer  progressive  developments  in  certain 
cities,  and  to  suggest  briefly  some  other  lines  of  investi- 
gation looking  toward  the  improvement  and  ultimate 
establishment  of  standards,  or  norms,  for  our  high  school 
work.  Every  intelligent  citizen  and  broad-minded  man 
needs  to  know  the  actual  conditions  as  they  exist  to-day, 
both  in  his  city  and  in  his  State  as  a  whole.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  find  more  important  issues  than  the  present 
insistent  ones  arising  out  of  our  municipal  and  school 
affairs.  It  will  be  only  through  the  work  of  capable  busi- 
ness managers  that  we  shall  begin  to  approach  the  norms 
set  by  private  enterprise  and  demanded  in  the  interests 
of  our  one  and  one  quarter  million  high  school  boys  and 
girls. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  RELATION   OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TO  THE 
ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL 

By  Homer  W.  Josselyn,  A.M. 

ASSOCIATE    PROFESSOR    OF   SCHOOL    ADMINISTRATION,    UNIVERSITY 
OF    KANSAS 

Beginnings  of  Elementary  Education. — The  first  ele- 
mentary schools  to  be  organized  in  America  were  those 
established  in  Massachusetts  in  the  early  colonial 
days.  Compulsory  education  was  approved  on  religious 
grounds.  The  early  school  laws  of  the  colony  enacted  in 
1642  and  1647  indicate  clearly  that  the  colonists  were 
firmly  committed  to  the  policy  of  establishing  and  main- 
taining a  system  of  public  education.  The  enthusiasm 
for  schools  sprung  from  the  religious  belief  of  the  colonists 
and  their  familiarity  with  the  English  grammar-schools 
established  after  the  Protestant  Reformation.  It  is  not 
strange,  therefore,  that  in  colonial  times  the  church  and 
schoolhouse  stood  together  nor  that  the  minister  at  times 
was  schoolmaster  also. 

Even  at  this  early  period  two  distinct  types  of  schools 
were  provided  for  by  legal  enactment,  the  Latin  or  gram-, 
mar  schools  and  the  dame  or  vernacular  schools.  The 
latter  type  was  the  forerunner  of  the  elementary  school 
of  to-day  though  its  curriculum  bears  little  resemblance 
to  that  of  the  present  time.  The  function  of  these 
pioneer  vernacular  schools  was  primarily  that  of  teaching 
reading.      One  of  the  beliefs  of  the  Calvinists  was  that 

164 


RELATION   TO   THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  165 

in  matters  of  religion  all  are  equally  concerned,  and  as 
the  scriptures  were  to  be  regarded  as  the  rule  of  life 
each  individual  should  be  able  to  read  them  for  himself. 
Laws  were  passed  making  it  obligatory  on  parents  or 
guardians  to  see  that  all  children  under  their  control 
knew  how  to  read.  Fines  were  levied  for  failure  to  com- 
ply with  this  requirement.  In  addition  to  the  elements 
of  reading,  the  children  were  taught  writing,  the  cate- 
chism, the  civil  laws  of  the  commonwealth,  and  simple 
number  relations.  This  curriculum  was  narrow,  the 
school  and  its  equipment  poor,  and  the  teachers  insuffi- 
ciently trained.  From  these  early  beginnings  until  the 
first  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  was  little 
change  in  the  type  of  education  provided.  Elementary 
education  was  in  the  handicraft  stage,  the  training  given 
being  mainly  intellectual  and  of  a  semi-religious  char- 
acter. 

The  Latin  or  grammar  schools  were  for  the  wealthier 
class.  The  instruction  here  was  of  a  more  advanced 
type  than  that  offered  in  the  vernacular  schools  and  pre- 
pared the  students  to  enter  Harvard.  Another  type  of 
school  giving  secondary  instruction,  the  academy,  de- 
veloped later,  and  its  growth  in  influence  and  importance 
is  coincident  with  the  decline  in  the  grammar-schools 
and  the  development  of  the  district  schools.  This  new 
institution  was  firmly  established  by  182 1,  the  date  of 
the  erection  of  the  English  classical  high  school  of  Bos- 
ton. As  the  founding  of  this  school  inaugurated  the 
high  school  movement  it  marks  an  era  in  our  educational 
history.  Secondary  education  before  this  was  classical 
and  similar  in  type  to  that  found  in  England.  The  citi- 
zens of  Boston  were  the  first  to  recognize  the  need  for 
secondary  training  for  all — training  for  those  who  were 


166  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

going  into  business  or  public  life  as  well  as  for  those  who 
were  going  on  to  the  universities  for  further  study  for 
the  professions.  The  movement  for  the  establishment  of 
public  high  schools  grew  constantly,  but  up  to  1850  or 
possibly  later  the  academies  maintained  their  ascen- 
dancy. Among  the  valuable  contributions  made  by  the 
academies  to  the  cause  of  public  secondary  education 
may  be  mentioned:  (1)  the  furthering  of  the  idea  that 
educational  training  should  be  given  students  for  life  and 
college,  too;  (2)  gathering  together  and  improving  the 
subject-matter  suitable  for  the  secondary  field;  (3)  in- 
creasing the  demand  generally  for  more  education  than 
that  given  in  the  elementary  schools. 

To  summarize  briefly,  education  in  colonial  days  con- 
sisted in  acquiring  a  certain  command  over  and  facility 
in  the  use  of  linguistic  and  symbolic  things.  In  the  ele- 
mentary schools  reading,  writing,  spelling  of  the  English 
language,  together  with  simple  number  work,  were  all 
taught  in  a  purely  mechanical  and  formal  manner.  In 
the  grammar-schools  also,  though  the  reading,  writing, 
and  spelling  were  of  Latin,  with  algebra  and  geometry 
in  place  of  arithmetic,  the  emphasis  was  on  the  formal 
and  symbolic.  The  education  offered  appealed  only  to 
the  student  with  the  academic  turn  of  mind.  For  the 
child  who  could  work  successfully  only  with  concrete 
things  and  who  would  have  enjoyed  the  content  subjects 
of  to-day  there  was  no  provision.  Academic,  bookish 
standards  prevailed.  The  colonial  schoolmaster  was  so 
restricted  in  his  educational  view-point  that  he  often 
even  insisted  that  those  who  could  not  conform  to  the 
school's  methods  and  scheme  of  organization  should 
leave.  He  himself  was  adept  at  dealing  with  symbols, 
and  that  was  all  he  wished  to  teach. 


RELATION   TO  THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  167 

Changing  Conditions  Affecting  Elementary  Educa- 
tion.— In  every  domain  of  American  affairs  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  a  century  of  remarkable  changes, 
which  were  so  rapid  that  the  ancient  traditions,  made  to 
solve  and  serve  the  old  and  now  outgrown  conditions, 
did  not  suffice.  The  school,  protected  though  it  was 
within  its  academic  walls,  felt  the  changes  keenly,  and 
during  this  century  there  was  particularly  a  marked 
development  in  the  field  and  scope  of  elementary  edu- 
cation. To  the  very  narrow  curriculum  of  colonial  days 
one  subject  after  another  was  added  until  it  may  truth- 
fully be  said  that  the  failure  of  the  elementary  school  to 
satisfy  the  demands  of  many  of  its  critics  to-day  is 
largely  due  to  its  overcrowded  curriculum. 

This  development  accompanied  the  even  greater 
changes  that  were  taking  place  in  the  industrial,  eco- 
nomic, commercial,  agricultural,  and  political  world. 
During  this  period  social  ideals  were  changed  and  de- 
veloped. Manners,  customs,  and  standards  of  living 
were  all  in  a  state  of  flux.  Great  as  was  the  advance  in 
educational  thought  and  practice,  it  was  far  overshadowed 
by  the  material  progress  made  in  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. The  philosophy  of  education  held  by  schoolmen, 
and  the  science  of  education,  imperfect  as  it  was,  suffered 
important  and  fundamental  modifications.  The  em- 
phasis was  gradually  shifted  from  education  for  intel- 
lectual culture  and  discipline  to  the  broader  and  saner 
view  of  education  for  social  efficiency. 

During  this  period  of  transition  the  charge  was  often 
made  that  the  schools  were  mainly  for  the  minority, 
designed,  whether  consciously  or  not,  in  the  interests 
of  those  who  demanded  and  who  could  make  use  of 
academic  training.     The  feeling  was  growing,  also,  that 


168  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  inherited  curriculum  was  one  sided  and  unbalanced. 
It  is  true  that  in  the  stress  of  our  rapidly  changing  social 
and  industrial  conditions  our  schools  have  not  risen  as 
they  should  to  their  responsibility  of  furnishing  oppor- 
tunities for  the  training  of  individual  pupils  for  social 
efficiency.  Particularly  is  this  true  of  the  schools  in  our 
larger  towns  and  cities.  After  a  certain  amount  of  work 
is  mastered  by  many  pupils  in  the  early  grades  there  is 
often  difficulty  in  retaining  them  in  school.  The  boys, 
particularly,  seem  to  feel  that  the  school  is  no  longer  able 
to  function  in  their  lives,  and  so  they  drop  out  of  school 
and  we  find  many  of  them  clogging  the  ranks  of  the  un- 
skilled. A  large  number  of  these  boys  and  girls  do  not 
work  on  leaving  school.  They  do  not  find  themselves  able 
to  become  adjusted  to  the  life  of  the  community.  This  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at,  for  there  is  at  the  present  time  a 
wider  gap  between  our  educational  system  and  the  local 
life  in  our  cities  than  there  is  between  the  elementary 
schools  and  the  high  school,  though  the  latter  is  wide 
enough.  Another  fact  to  be  noted  here,  also,  is  our  fail- 
ure to  bring  about  universal  education.  We  never  shall 
so  long  as  we  maintain  our  schools  as  they  are  to-day  and 
continue  to  neglect  the  needs  of  the  pupils  who  desire 
vocational  work.  Even  in  the  lower  grades  the  curricu- 
lum may  be  easily  so  modified  as  to  include  construction 
work.  When  the  three  R's  constituted  the  curriculum 
there  was  time  enough  to  ramify  them  indefinitely. 
The  problem  to-day  in  the  elementary  grades  is  not  ex- 
pansion of  subject-matter  nor  enrichment  of  curriculum 
by  addition  of  cultural  subjects,  but  rather  one  of 
elimination  of  unessentials.  It  is  necessary  now  as 
never  before  to  find  the  essentials  in  the  subjects  for 
the  elementary  school  period,  and  these  should  be  so 


RELATION  TO  THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  169 

thoroughly  taught  that  they  become  a  part  of  the  child 
himself. 

Curriculum  Difficulties. — The  enrichment  which  has 
been  going  on  for  some  years  has  become  so  extensive 
and  far-reaching  that  the  teachers  in  some  elementary 
schools  are  overwhelmed  with  the  multitude  of  aims. 
The  Committee  of  Ten  recommended  so  many  subjects 
for  the  elementary  schools  that  they  felt  compelled  to 
add: 

If  any  one  feels  dismayed  at  the  number  and  variety  of  the 
subjects  to  be  opened  to  the  children  of  tender  age  let  him  ob- 
serve that  while  these  nine  conferences  desire  each  their  own 
subject  to  be  brought  into  the  courses  of  the  elementary  schools 
they  all  agree  that  these  different  subjects  should  be  correlated 
and  associated  one  with  another  by  the  programme  and  by  the 
actual  teaching. 

The  saving  of  time  and  energy  was  to  be  accomplished 
by  better  methods  and  by  seeking  educational  aims  look- 
ing toward  the  more  efficient  teaching  of  subject-matter. 
Economy  in  the  selection,  adaptation,  and  presentation 
of  subject-matter  was  hoped  for.  The  relative  worth  of 
things  was  to  be  established.  In  the  years  that  have 
passed  since  this  report  there  has  been  little  of  permanent 
value  accomplished  in  these  particulars.  There  is  a 
marked  tendency  still  to  sacrifice  quality  to  quantity. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  history  of  the  changes 
from  the  old  type  of  school  to  the  modern,  publicly  sup- 
ported school,  free  for  all,  with  its  free  text-books  and 
with  an  enlarged  and  enriched  curriculum,  is  the  history 
of  the  organized  fight  of  the  radical,  humanitarian,  ar- 
tisan, and  poorer  classes  for  an  education  for  all  the 
children  of  the  country,  our  schools  have  always  lagged 
behind  in  the  work  of  modifying  their  curriculums  to 


170  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

meet  new  social  conditions.  So  complex  and  so  shifting 
are  the  conditions  of  modern  life  that  it  is  difficult  to 
prepare  for  them.  Still  it  is  not  asking  too  much  that 
the  work  in  the  elementary  schools  be  presented  from 
the  standpoint  of  its  use  and  its  bearing  on  vocations  as 
well  as  from  the  standpoint  of  its  being  preparation  for 
further  education  of  a  cultural  sort.  Comparatively 
few  of  our  pupils  do  take  advantage  of  the  high  school 
training  offered  by  the  community.  The  majority  of  the 
pupils  do  not  finish  the  seventh  grade  in  our  elementary 
schools.  Therefore  that  elementary  education  which 
does  not  make  it  possible  for  every  boy  and  girl  to  acquire 
a  training  directly  helpful  in  the  great  struggle  for  a 
living  is  not  meeting  the  responsibilities  placed  upon 
it.  Children  differ  so  radically  in  capacities,  desires, 
interests,  and  needs  that  what  is  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity for  one  is  no  opportunity  at  all  for  another. 
Equal  opportunity  for  all  must  cease  to  mean  the  same 
curriculum  for  all.  The  test  of  our  educational  system 
must  come  to  mean  the  excellence  of  the  training  pro- 
vided for  each  individual  child  with  reference  to  what  he 
is  best  qualified  to  do.  Our  schools  to-day  are  meeting 
the  needs  of  the  boys  and  girls  who  wish  to  continue 
their  studies  in  high  school  and  college,  but  they  are 
taking  little  account  of  the  pupils  who  cannot  prepare  for 
or  do  not  wish  a  higher  education. 

Poor  Articulation. — One  of  the  functions  of  the  ele- 
mentary school  must  always  be  to  prepare  a  fraction  of 
its  pupils  to  engage  most  efficiently  in  the  work  of  the 
secondary  schools.  The  elementary  school  must  antic- 
ipate the  high  school  and  put  into  its  curriculum  some 
studies  that  will  function  in  the  later  period  and  change 
its  methods  for  those  more  nearly  allied  to  high  school 


RELATION  TO  THE  ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  171 

procedure.  The  criticism  is  frequently  made  that  the 
transition  from  the  grades  to  the  high  school  is  too 
abrupt;  that  there  is  a  big  gap  between  the  two  types 
of  schools.  Judging  from  the  statistics  of  school  enrol- 
ment and  elimination,  this  is  true.  Our  elementary 
schools  have  not,  in  administering  their  curriculums 
looked  sufficiently  either  to  the  school  beyond  or  to 
life  independent  of  the  high  school.  The  curriculums  of 
the  lower  and  higher  grades  must  be  changed  in  whatever 
way  is  necessary  to  meet  the  conditions  brought  about 
by  our  industrial,  economic,  social,  and  educational  de- 
velopment. This  may  mean  changes  in  the  subject- 
matter,  the  methods,  the  aims,  the  ideals,  and  the  organi- 
zation of  both  the  lower  and  secondary  schools. 

New  Demands  Upon  the  Upper  Grammar  Grades. — 
The  increased  interest  of  the  public  in  educational  affairs 
has  manifested  itself  in  a  growing  demand  throughout 
the  country  that  the  schools  shall  be  more  closely  related 
to  the  future  work  of  the  children.  There  is  an  ever- 
growing sentiment  that  along  with  the  cultural  academic 
studies  should  go  training  preparatory  to  the  work  the 
pupils  are  going  to  do  after  they  leave  the  public  schools. 
Opportunities  for  manual  and  trade  instruction  for  those 
who  cannot  successfully  do  or  do  not  care  for  the  aca- 
demic work  are  now  demanded  as  the  right  of  that  large 
class  of  pupils  who  yearly  leave  school  unequipped 
educationally.  Sociological  writers  and  public-spirited 
citizens  have  pointed  out  that  the  ranks  of  unskilled 
and  low-grade  laborers  are  overcrowded,  and  that, 
because  the  supply  of  skilled  laborers  from  Europe 
has  decreased  very  materially,  industry  is  suffering  from 
a  lack  of  skilled  workmen.  As  the  old  apprenticeship 
system  has  gone  never  to  return,  the  question  is  now 


172  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

raised  as  to  the  possibility  of  accomplishing  the  same 
or  better  results  through  a  system  of  education  which 
shall  meet  the  needs  of  the  workers  and  of  the  manu- 
facturers. Special  State  commissions  have  been  ap- 
pointed in  Connecticut,  Maine,  Maryland,  Massa- 
chusetts, Michigan,  New  Jersey,  and  Wisconsin  to  study 
the  situation  and  ascertain  what  can  and  shall  be  done 
at  public  expense. 

Organization  of  Public  Education  in  European  Coun- 
tries.— As  contrasted  with  the  American  scheme  of  school 
organization,  secondary  education  begins  generally  in 
Europe  at  the  age  of  eleven  or  twelve.  To  examine  in 
detail  the  educational  systems  of  Germany,  France,  En- 
gland, Sweden,  Austria,  Japan,  and  Canada,  and  contrast 
them  with  that  of  the  United  States,  is  no  easy  task, 
for  it  involves  the  study  of  very  complicated  administra- 
tive and  educational  problems.  It  is  necessary,  there- 
fore, merely  to  indicate  roughly  the  external  organiza- 
tion of  the  elementary  and  secondary  types  of  school  and 
to  show  the  lack  of  articulation  between  the  two.  In 
this  particular  there  is  an  important  difference  between 
the  European  countries  and  the  United  States.  The 
tendency  of  the  German  nation  to  preserve  the  caste 
system  has,  looked  at  from  our  American  point  of  view, 
gone  beyond  the  bounds  of  necessity.  From  the  German 
angle  very  possibly  our  American  disregard  for  class  dif- 
ferences and  needs  in  education  creates  a  more  difficult 
situation  with  more  far-reaching  evil  effects.  There  are 
many  dangers  to  be  found  in  our  American  organization 
due  to  the  too  great  freedom  allowed  individual  students 
in  the  election  or  non-election  of  high  school  studies, 
while  in  Germany  the  student  suffers  from  a  system  that 
is  too  rigid  and  too  paternalistic. 


RELATION   TO   THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  17:; 

The  German  school  system  and  German  educational 
aims  and  ideals  cannot  be  studied  apart  from  the  political, 
social,  and  industrial  history  and  present-day  conditions 
of  the  country.  Germany  is  said  to  have  the  finest  sys- 
tem of  elementary  schools  in  the  world,  nine  tenths  of 
the  children  of  school  age  being  enrolled  in  the  Volks- 
schulen.  Elementary  education  extends,  as  in  the  United 
States,  over  a  period  of  eight  years.  Secondary  educa- 
tion, however,  is  not  built  on  top  of  this  elementary 
training  as  in  the  United  States.  This  secondary  type  of 
school  enrolls  children  at  the  age  of  nine  or  ten  and  offers 
them  a  continuous  curriculum  of  nine  years.  Pupils 
who  expect  to  have  secondary  training  in  Germany  usu- 
ally attend  the  Forschulen  and  go  from  this  to  the 
Hohere  Schulen  (high  schools).  The  great  difference, 
therefore,  between  the  German  and  American  systems  is 
in  Germany's  lack  of  articulation  between  the  elementary 
and  secondary  instruction  and  in  the  organization  of  the 
secondary  school  itself.  Because  of  the  longer  period  in 
the  secondary  school,  and  better  teachers,  the  average 
intellectual  ability  (or  at  least  attainment)  of  the  German 
pupil  is  greater  at  eighteen  when  he  enters  the  German 
University  than  that  of  our  American  student  who  at  the 
same  age  enters  college.  The  very  facts  that  secondary 
training  begins  so  early  and  that  there  is  a  sharp  differ- 
entiation between  the  schools  are  of  decided  advantage  to 
the  German  teacher.  In  America  children  of  all  classes, 
from  widely  different  environments  and  with  greater  vari- 
ations in  mental  ability,  are  found  in  the  same  school- 
room. The  compulsory  school  law  compels  their  atten- 
dance whether  they  will  or  no.  Because,  therefore,  of  the 
unsifted  nature  of  the  class  the  teacher  may  not  teach 
consciously  for  that  little  group  who  may  be  planning 


174  ,THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

later  on  to  enter  the  high  school.  The  differentiated 
treatment  here  called  for  constitutes  the  problem  of 
this  chapter.  While  it  is  not  expected  nor  intended 
that  the  pupils  of  the  Volksschulen  shall  receive  any 
secondary  education,  Germany  has  gone  far  ahead  of 
any  other  nation  in  establishing  institutions  for  provid- 
ing vocational  education  for  these  pupils  after  they  have 
completed  the  elementary  course  and  are  engaged  in 
their  life-work. 

In  France,  as  in  Germany,  it  is  not  intended  that  the 
elementary  schools  merely  prepare  pupils  for  secondary 
training.  The  elementary  course  runs  from  four  or  six 
to  nine  years.  Secondary  education  is  provided  by  the 
lycee  and  the  college.  Pupils  here  receive  seven  years 
of  work  and,  as  they  enter  at  nine  years,  complete  work 
by  sixteen.  France,  like  Germany,  has  a  good  system  of 
vocational  education  for  the  workers  after  they  leave  the 
elementary  schools. 

In  England  secondary  education  is  maintained  exten- 
sively by  independent  endowed  schools,  and  these 
schools  do  not  articulate  with  the  public  elementary 
schools.  The  age  for  entering  the  secondary  schools 
varies  from  eleven  to  fourteen,  and  they  graduate  at 
about  the  same  age  as  in  America,  eighteen  or  nineteen. 
There  are  also  in  England  higher  elementary  schools 
which  continue  the  work  of  the  elementary  schools, 
but  these  are  not  comparable  to  secondary  schools  and 
they  enroll  comparatively  few  students.  England  is  not 
as  progressive  as  France  and  Germany  in  providing 
vocational  education,  though  considerable  instruction  of 
this  type  is  given  in  all  parts  of  Great  Britain. 

Elementary  education  in  Austria  consists  of  eight 
years,  divided   into   two  parts,  a  five-year   course   in 


RELATION  TO  THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  175 

Volksschulen  and  three  years  in  the  Burgherschulen. 
There  is  no  articulation  between  these  schools  and  those 
of  secondary  grade,  and  the  system  is  similar  in  many 
respects  to  the  German  plan  of  organization. 

In  Sweden  elementary  education  is  provided  in  the 
Folkskolor,  and  the  course  varies  from  six  to  seven  or 
even  eight  years.  Here,  again,  there  is  a  lack  of  articula- 
tion between  the  schools,  the  secondary  schools  running 
parallel  to  the  elementary  schools,  with  the  pupils  enter- 
ing the  former  at  the  age  of  nine  or  ten  years. 

In  the  case  of  Japan,  elementary  education  consists 
usually  of  six  years,  followed  by  middle  schools  of  secon- 
dary grade  with  a  five-year  course,  and  the  higher  schools 
follow  these  with  a  three-year  course  and  prepare  for  the 
university. 

Chart  I  illustrates  these  conditions  graphically  and 
shows  that  the  United  States,  Canada,  and  Japan  are  the 
only  countries  where  secondary  education  is  built  on  top 
of  elementary  training.  In  all  other  cases  the  schools  run 
parallel  for  a  number  of  years,  and  there  is  no  attempt 
to  articulate  the  work.  There  is  also  no  provision  for  a 
pupil  to  pass  from  one  to  the  other,  as  that  procedure  is 
not  deemed  desirable  because  of  the  character  of  the 
social  organizations  in  these  countries. 

Pedagogical  Basis  for  Differentiating  Elementary  and 
Secondary  Education. — Why  is  it  that  elementary  edu- 
cation is  prolonged  in  this  country  and  that  our  secon- 
dary-school work  is  postponed  three  or  four  years  later 
than  in  the  European  countries  here  discussed?  The 
problem  to  be  solved  is  whether  there  is  any  pedagogical 
age  at  which  secondary  education  should  begin. 

It  seems  to  be  sound  reasoning  to  hold  that  higher  or 
secondary  education  should  begin  for  the  child  as  soon 


176 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


as  he  has  the  tools  with  which  he  may  profitably  gain  this 
higher  training.  Looked  at  in  this  way,  the  main  func- 
tion of  the  elementary  school  is  to  give  the  child  the 
training  necessary  for  participation  in  higher  education 

RELATION    OF    ELEMENTARY    TO 

SECONDARY     EDUCATION 


U.  S.  CANADA  GERMANY   FRANCE   ENGLAND   AUSTRIA   SWEDEN   JAPAN 
1    )  ELEMENTARY        I     I  SECONDARY 

Chart  I 

as  early  as  possible,  say  by  the  time  he  is  eleven  or  twelve 
years  of  age.     What  are  these  tools  with  which  the  pupil 
should  be  equipped  at  this  age? 
(i)  Ability  to  read. 

(2)  Ability  to  express  in  words  thoughts  gained  from 
reading. 

(3)  Ability  to  express  in  writing  thoughts  gained  from 
reading  and  conversation. 

(4)  Ability  to  do  simple  number  work. 

(5)  More  or  less  information  in  geography  and  in 
nature  study. 


RELATION   TO   THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  177 


(6)  A  certain  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  myths 
and  child  literature. 

(7)  Some  ability  to  do  simple  construction  and 
manual-training  work. 

All  this  can  and  should  be  accomplished  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  average  child  on  completion  of  the  sixth 
grade. 

Following  is  a  suggested  time  schedule  for  each  sub- 
ject and  grade  in  the  elementary  school: 


Subject 

Grade 

B  1 

A  I 

II 

B  III 

A  III 

IV 

V 

VI 

Language  and 
Composition . . 

Reading  and 
Phonics 

175 
600 

40 
40 
20 
60 
60 
75 
40 
So 
60 
130 
ISO 

175 

600 
50 

40 
40 
20 
60 
60 
75 
40 
5o 
60 
80 
150 

175 

450 
125 
100 

25 

40 
40 
20 
60 
60 
75 
40 
50 
60 
30 
150 

i75 

300 
125 
200 

25 
75 
40 
40 
20 
60 
60 
75 
40 
50 
60 
5 
150 

175 

300 
125 

200 

25 
100 
30 
30 
20 
60 
60 
75 
40 
50 
60 

150 

225 

i75 
i75 
200 

25 
200 
150 

20 
60 
60 
75 
40 
5o 
120 

75 

225 

150 
150 
250 

225 
150 

20 
60 
60 
75 
40 
50 
120 

75 

225 

150 
150 
250 

225 
ISO 

20 
60 
60 
75 
40 
50 
120 

75 

Arithmetic 

Oral  Number 

Drill 

Geography 

History 

Nature  Study. . . 

Hygiene 

Music 

Drawing 

Writing 

Opening  Ex 

PhysicalTraining 
Manual  Training 
Miscellaneous. . . 

Total 

1,500 

1,500 

1,500 

1,500 

1.500 

1,650 

1,650 

1,650* 

'Minutes  per  week. 


One  of  the  important  functions  of  the  elementary 
schools  is  to  increase  the  happiness  and  civic  usefulness 
of  the  individual  pupil.     Because,  however,  the  curricu- 


178  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

lum  as  it  stands  to-day  has  the  cultural  side  better  cared 
for  than  the  vocational,  industrial,  or  practical,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  examine  carefully  the  subject-matter  presented 
and  the  methods  used  to  ascertain  whether  the  ends  at- 
tained by  the  elementary  school  graduate  justify  the 
means  and  time  used  in  his  preparation.  If  the  broader 
view-point  of  the  consideration  of  the  needs  of  the  age 
were  taken  as  the  ends  in  view,  and  if  the  subjects  taught 
were  presented  consciously  as  a  means  toward  these  ends, 
it  is  safe  to  assume  that  there  would  be  a  most  radical 
readjustment  in  elementary  school  organization  and 
that  the  education  given  would  do  more  for  a  pupil  than 
furnish  him  the  necessary  tools  for  acquiring  further 
knowledge  of  an  academic  sort. 

The  situation  in  some  cities  indicates  clearly  that  the 
elementary  school  has  made  an  ambitious  attempt  to 
spread  out  into  the  field  of  the  secondary  school.  The 
relation  between  the  elementary  and  the  secondary  school 
should  be  an  intimate  one.  Above  all  things  the  sec- 
ondary schools  require  a  well-graded  system  of  ele- 
mentary schools  that  will  supply  them  with  a  body  of 
pupils  whose  previous  training  has  been  more  or  less  uni- 
form and  of  a  standard  grade.  The  very  fact  that  a 
clear  differentiation  between  the  functions  of  the  two 
types  of  schools  in  our  social  organization  is  needed 
to-day  is  an  indication  that  the  relationship  of  one  to 
the  other  is  not  clearly  and  satisfactorily  denned.  For 
some  years  the  statement  has  been  made  and  remade  that 
there  is  a  gap  between  the  two  schools  which  must  be 
bridged.  All  attempts  to  accomplish  this,  however,  have 
only  tended  to  accentuate  the  emphasis  upon  the  aca- 
demic aspects  of  the  educational  process.  Much  remains 
to  be  done  before  these  different  aims  may  be  harmonized. 


RELATION  TO  THE   ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL  179 

Necessity  for  Curriculum  Reorganization. — The  serious 
purpose  of  public  education  should  be,  first,  to  train  pupils 
in  the  elementary  and  secondary  schools  for  self-support 
and  for  active  and  useful  participation  in  the  industrial ,  po- 
litical, and  intellectual  life  of  society.  One  of  the  great- 
est failures  growing  out  of  our  present  organization  is  that 
our  curriculums  have  been  based  on  the  assumptions  that 
the  children  are  normal,  that  all  have  the  same  powers 
and  talents,  and  that  it  only  requires  training  to  bring 
them  out.  Only  recently  has  attention  been  given  to 
the  individual  aptitudes,  interests,  capacities,  and  needs 
of  school  children.  The  nature  of  our  school  population 
and  present  conditions  in  American  life  make  necessary 
a  reorganization  of  the  American  school  system  and  our 
schoolroom  procedure.  At  present  we  are  trying  in  these 
respects  to  adjust  our  schools  to  individual  children. 
The  waste  in  school  work  in  the  past  was  due  to  just  this 
maladjustment  between  the  content  of  the  curriculum 
and  the  needs  of  the  pupils.  The  community  has  at  last 
set  educators  to  work  to  examine  most  critically  the  whole 
scheme  of  public  education.  The  problem  of  reorganiza- 
tion includes,  then,  very  distinctly,  vocational  education. 
The  rights  of  the  individual  and  the  welfare  of  society 
require  practical  training  leading  toward  useful  occupa- 
tions for  that  large  class  of  youths  whose  period  of  edu- 
cation is  limited.  Many  children,  particularly  boys, 
drop  behind  their  mates  because  book-work  comes  hard 
for  them.  In  many  cases  these  same  boys  are  better 
fitted  for  manual-training  work  than  the  boys  of  higher 
standing  in  the  traditional  subjects.  The  tools  of  edu- 
cation could  have  been  acquired  by  them  at  the  age 
of  twelve  and  high  school  methods  employed.  Many 
types  of  mental  training  are  better  adapted  to  the  earlier 


180  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

years.  Beginning  high  school  subjects,  with  depart- 
mental teaching  of  all  subjects,  and  using  high  school 
methods  at  twelve,  will,  it  is  expected,  meet  the  needs  of 
pupils  like  those  described  above,  who  are  restless  and 
seek  larger  and  more  interesting  life  not  possible  in  the 
elementary  school. 

For  these  and  other  reasons  it  is  growing  more  and 
more  apparent  that  the  elementary  period  as  now  organ- 
ized must  be  modified  to  meet  present-day  conditions. 
The  elementary  period  as  such  should  end  at  twelve 
years  or  the  sixth  grade.  Many  educators  are  engaged 
in  studying  or  experimenting  upon  some  phase  of  re- 
organization. If  the  whole  scheme  of  primary  education 
is  entirely  reorganized  because  of  this  agitation  and  seri- 
ous reflective  thought,  an  impetus  hitherto  unknown 
will  be  given  to  popular  education. 

The  plans  for  the  organization  of  public  education,  as 
shown  in  the  color  chart,  open  up  the  whole  question  of  the 
function  of  public  education  and  the  relation  of  one  type 
of  school  to  another  and  to  the  community.  The  at- 
tempt has  been  made  to  show  graphically  the  condition 
as  it  now  exists  in  the  great  majority  of  American  cities 
and  towns,  and  by  other  graphs  to  suggest  plans  for  the 
reorganization  of  the  public  schools  to  meet  the  conditions 
and  needs  already  noted.  The  seventh,  eighth,  and 
ninth  grades  have  been  organized  as  a  separate  depart- 
ment, between  the  elementary  and  the  high  school. 

Work  of  Intermediate  Department. — In  this  interme- 
diate department  the  work  should  be  unified  and  the  at- 
tempt made  to  retain  all  pupils  at  least  through  the 
ninth  grade.  There  is  need  for  something  beyond  the 
elementary  schools,  as  now  constituted,  not  only  to 
bridge  the  gap  between  the  elementary  and  secondary 


I 


RELATION   TO   THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  181 

instruction  but  also  to  offer  to  the  great  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple an  opportunity  for  acquiring  a  certain  intellectual 
development  and  some  industrial  training  at  the  same 
time.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  child  of  average  ability  in 
academic  work  is  educated  now  at  the  expense  of  the 
State  only  through  the  lower  grades. 

If  the  elementary  period  consisted  of  the  first  six 
grades  the  average  child  should,  if  the  work  is  properly 
graded  and  taught,  reach  the  sixth  grade  at  twelve.  To 
make  this  result  fairly  certain  the  subject-matter  of  these 
grades  should  be  thoroughly  worked  over  and  tested  as 
to  its  adaptability  for  the  average  age  and  stage  of  devel- 
opment of  the  pupils  of  each  grade.  One  of  the  large 
problems  to  be  solved  in  the  establishment  of  this  inter- 
mediate department,  then,  will  be  the  organization  of  the 
subject-matter.  There  are  too  many  subjects  now  in  the 
seventh  and  eighth  grades,  and  they  are  generally  poorly 
taught.  Doctor  Henry  S.  Pritchett,  of  the  Carnegie  Foun- 
dation, recently  stated  that  American  education  from  ele- 
mentary school  to  college  is  suffering  from  the  attempt  to 
teach  too  many  things  to  the  same  pupil  at  the  same  time. 
Much,  therefore,  that  is  now  given  in  the  upper  grammar 
grades  must  of  necessity  be  eliminated  and  much  better 
work  must  be  done  in  the  first  six  grades,  so  that  there 
may  be  uniformity  in  the  training  of  the  pupils  when  they 
enter  the  intermediate  department.  In  the  proposed  in- 
termediate department  each  student  would  study  fewer 
subjects,  but  there  would  be  a  choice  of  several  groups  of 
studies  open  for  his  careful  selection.  These  groups  of 
studies  should  be  arranged  from  the  standpoint  of  social 
needs,  and  in  organizing  the  courses  educational  aims 
should  be  adapted  to  the  community  concerned. 

The  curriculum,  too,  in  all  three  years  of  the  interme- 


182  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

diate  school  should  be  built  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  large 
majority  who  will  not  enter  high  school  nor  go  on  to 
college.  The  intermediate  school  should,  by  the  careful 
and  more  prolonged  training  of  the  rising  generation,  con- 
tribute greatly  to  the  improvement  of  the  industrial, 
agricultural,  commercial,  and  social  life  of  the  country. 
The  constant  aim  of  this  proposed  department  of  the 
public  school  should  be  to  give  the  pupil  the  sort  of  in- 
struction that  would  be  useful  to  him  in  his  after-life. 
Because  there  is  immediate  need  for  many  boys,  and  girls 
too,  to  work  at  the  close  of  the  compulsory  school  period 
(fourteen  years  in  most  States  still),  provision  must  be 
made  while  they  are  yet  in  school  to  give  them  some 
training  of  an  industrial  character.  In  the  industrial 
courses  the  principle  should  be  held  that  a  boy  or  man 
is  not  perfectly  trained  until  he  has  received  a  twofold 
training,  the  intellectual  and  cultural,  and  the  industrial 
and  practical.  In  industrial  courses,  therefore,  the  lib- 
eral work  of  the  school  should  be  related  to  the  industrial 
and  vocational  work.  If  any  who  have  taken  those 
courses  in  the  intermediate  school  which  are  closely 
related  to  life  pursuits  find  that  they  are  able  to  continue 
longer  in  school,  they  will  be  qualified  to  follow,  in  the 
high  school  proper,  more  advanced  work  in  industrial 
curriculums  or  in  the  general  academic  curriculums. 

Different  Student  Groups. — Whenever  possible,  be- 
cause of  size  of  school  and  financial  opportunities,  the 
work  of  the  intermediate  department  should  be  organ- 
ized so  as  to  care  for  three  different  groups  of  students: 
first,  those  who  wish  academic  training  for  high  school; 
second,  those  who  wish  general  training  and  manual 
training,  but  do  not  desire  preparation  for  any  particular 
vocation;  and  third,  those  who  desire,  in  addition  to  the 


RELATION   TO  THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  183 

general  work  offered  the  second  group,  specific  training 
for  some  trade.  In  general  the  courses  offered  should 
include:  (a)  the  languages,  literature,  history,  civics, 
and  fine  arts;  (b)  mathematics,  commercial  geography; 
(c)  manual  training,  domestic  science,  shop  work,  and 
home  economics.  While  it  may  not  be  possible  for  the 
intermediate  department  to  offer  training  in  particular 
vocations,  it  should  offer  manual  training,  domestic  sci- 
ence, manual-arts  courses,  and  industrial  work  of  such  a 
broad,  general  nature  as  to  have  a  decided  practical  value. 

If  the  aim  of  the  public  school  should  thus  become  a 
conscious  endeavor  to  give  an  equal  opportunity  to  all, 
to  give  as  much  help  to  the  boy  or  girl  who  needs  the 
practical  training  as  to  those  who  wish  the  traditional 
work,  the  tendency  will  be  for  the  pupils  to  remain  in 
school  beyond  their  fourteenth  birthday.  Very  possibly 
many  will  graduate  from  the  ninth  grade  of  the  interme- 
diate school  who  would  not  have  completed  the  elemen- 
tary course  as  it  is  now  organized.  It  is  also  likely  that 
in  many  cases  a  desire  for  an  industrial  career  will  be 
awakened,  and  that  the  high  school  proper  will  receive 
pupils  who  have  not  been  interested  in  the  academic 
work. 

It  is  quite  probable  that,  in  the  case  of  those  children 
who  after  completing  the  industrial  work  in  the  interme- 
diate schools  do  enroll  in  the  high  school,  the  assertion 
will  be  made  by  critics  of  the  scheme  of  organization  here 
outlined  that  some,  at  least,  will  be  literally  forced  to  an 
early  specialization.  This  criticism  need  not  be  given 
much  consideration^  it  is  sure  to  come  from  the  extreme 
conservatives,  who  are  so  narrow  in  their  educational 
philosophy  that  they  voice  this  objection  whenever  and 
wherever  possible.     When  other  pupils  on  leaving  high 


184  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

school  regret  not  having  completed  an  industrial  course 
as  preparation  for  life,  the  same  teachers  will  not  feel  that 
they  are  responsible  for  the  early  and  continued  special- 
ization in  academic  training  leading  toward  the  profes- 
sions. In  this  latter  event  the  value  of  the  cultural  train- 
ing will  very  likely  continue  to  be  held  before  the  pupil, 
as  it  is  at  present  in  nearly  all  the  high  schools  of  the 
country. 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  the  use  of 
material  in  school  that  is  closely  related  to  modern  life 
and  social  pursuits  will  not  be  as  truly  cultural  as  the 
more  academic  branches,  or  that  it  will  not  function  as 
successfully  in  the  lives  of  the  children  who  would  other- 
wise probably  be  at  work  in  unskilled  pursuits.  It  may 
be  emphatically  asserted  that  culture  is  no  fixed  or  defi- 
nite thing.  It  is  ever  changing  to  fit  time  and  place.  It 
is  evolutionary.  To  the  average  American,  however,  cul- 
ture represents  the  knowledge  of  the  life  of  the  ancients, 
and  so  we  have  many  educators  and  laymen  putting 
emphasis  on  notions  of  culture  based  on  those  of  the 
Greeks.  This  is  not  only  a  very  narrow  conception  of 
culture  but  a  very  false  one — -false,  at  any  rate,  in  so  far 
as  we  speak  of  actual  results  in  the  child's  intellectual 
and  social  life  as  he  leaves  the  school  on  his  fourteenth 
birthday. 

The  need  for  industrial  education  and  its  value  in  the 
schools  in  one  form  or  another  is  no  longer  even  a  matter 
for  argument  in  many  communities. 

In  our  elementary  schools  as  now  constituted  we  have 
in  our  progressive  cities  manual  training,  domestic  sci- 
ence, and  art  and  shop  work.  Many  of  the  high  schools 
in  these  cities  have  made  manual  training  the  prime  ele- 
ment in   certain   courses   and  wherever   these  manual 


RELATION  TO   THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  185 

training,  practical  or  mechanical  arts  high  schools  have 
been  established  they  have  come  to  stay. 

Arguments  in  Favor  of  Plan  Suggested. — Some  of  the 
arguments  for  the  establishment  of  the  intermediate 
schools  viewed  from  the  angle  of  the  public  elementary 
school  itself  may  be  stated  as  follows:  (i)  At  present 
many  boys  and  girls  in  the  elementary  schools  are  over 
age  and  leave  in  large  numbers  without  completing  more 
than  six  grades,  and  this  large  amount  of  retardation  and 
elimination  and  its  consequent  waste  and  loss  in  efficiency 
has  made  a  reorganization  and  readjustment  of  aims 
imperative.  (2)  Much  of  the  difficulty  in  our  school 
work  is  due  to  the  faulty  course  of  study,  along  with 
which  may  be  linked  poor  teaching.  (3)  Not  only  will 
the  teaching  in  the  intermediate  schools  here  proposed 
be  superior  to  the  grade  of  instruction  now  given  in  the 
seventh  and  eighth  grades,  but  the  equipment  will  be 
far  better  than  the  average  elementary  school  now  pos- 
sesses. (4)  With  a  thorough  modification,  simplifica- 
tion, and  standardization  of  the  elementary  schools,  and 
with  no  attempt  to  set  up  severe  standards  for  entrance 
to  some,  at  least,  of  the  intermediate  courses,  the  interme- 
diate schools  should  enroll  nearly  all  of  the  pupils  who 
have  been  enrolled  in  the  grades.  This  should  mean  that 
the  class  of  boys  and  girls  who  cannot  afford  to  stay  in 
school  beyond  their  fifteenth  birthday  will  predominate. 
Here,  then,  should  be  the  backbone  of  the  American 
system  of  education.  Here,  if  anywhere,  must  be  taught 
the  fundamental  subjects  upon  which  the  success  or  fail- 
ure in  after-life  of  this  class  of  pupils  must  largely  depend. 

No  detailed  discussion  of  the  work  of  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades  as  it  exists  to-day  will  be  attempted  here. 
For,  in  all  the  plans  suggested  in  color  chart  facing  page 


186  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

1 88  and  which  will  be  discussed  in  detail,  the  elementary 
school  period  ends  with  the  sixth  grade.  The  interme- 
diate school  organization  as  proposed  is  radically  different 
from  the  present  plan.  In  general  the  scheme  contem- 
plates that  the  academic,  general,  and  vocational  courses 
of  the  intermediate  school  shall  be  offered  side  by  side  in 
the  same  building  so  that  that  culture  so  necessary  to  the 
mechanic  as  well  as  the  professional  man  may  be  offered 
to  all.  Running  these  courses  side  by  side  in  the  same 
building  will  very  likely  result  in  the  shifting  of  some 
students  from  one  to  the  other.  This  means  that  during 
the  intermediate  school  years  there  must  be  flexibility 
in  the  administration  of  the  curriculums  and  courses 
offered.  It  may  be  expected  that  the  larger  cities  will 
organize  more  courses  than  the  smaller  communities  will 
be  able  to  afford. 

Problems  Peculiar  to  the  Different  Plans  of  Reorgan- 
ization.— The  color  chart  shows  graphically  plans  for  ex- 
ternal organization  for  different  communities  according  to 
population,  local  conditions,  and  needs.  Each  type  of 
organization  has  its  own  peculiar  problems,  which  will  be 
discussed  in  connection  with  it,  but  there  are  certain  dif- 
ficulties encountered  by  all  which  may  be  considered 
together.  The  most  serious  of  these  is  that  of  securing 
instructors  really  qualified  to  teach  the  work  of  the  inter- 
mediate schools  from  the  point  of  view  of  social  needs. 
The  organization  on  the  departmental  basis  and  the 
securing  of  men  for  the  industrial  and  manual-training 
courses  will  be  then  the  most  difficult  things  to  accom- 
plish. Applicants  for  these  positions  not  only  must 
possess  a  practical  and  efficient  knowledge  of  the  trade, 
but  they  will  also  have  to  be  thoroughly  equipped  with  a 
general  education,  and,  above  all,  be  able  to  teach. 


RELATION   TO   THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL     187 

Another  of  the  more  general  problems  is  the  one  of 
securing  suitable  text-books.  The  ordinary  texts  used 
now  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  will  not  answer  the 
purpose  at  all.  Nor  will  the  texts  used  in  the  first  year 
of  the  high  school  suffice. 

Still  another  of  these  general  problems  will  be  that  of 
organizing  the  work  of  the  seventh  grade  in  English, 
history,  arithmetic,  spelling,  composition,  etc.,  for  all 
groups,  as  that  seems  desirable  from  the  standpoint  of 
economy  and  for  the  better  articulation  of  the  elementary 
with  the  intermediate  grades  and  also  so  as  to  prevent 
class  prejudices.  For  the  same  reason,  wherever  it  is 
possible  to  do  so,  the  classes  in  the  eighth  and  ninth 
grades  devoted  to  the  general  cultural  work  should  be 
composed  of  students  from  the  different  courses.  In  the 
case,  however,  of  the  industrial  group  the  arithmetic, 
spelling,  composition,  and  language  work  should  be  or- 
ganized around  the  particular  calling  the  students  are 
preparing  to  enter.  As  far  as  possible  the  curriculum 
should  be  socialized.  At  the  present  time,  though  En- 
glish expression  gets  the  largest  share  of  the  time,  often 
one  half  of  the  school  day,  the  children  fail  to  express 
themselves  correctly,  clearly,  forcefully,  or  attractively, 
either  in  written  or  oral  speech.  To  improve  this  con- 
dition, constant  and  definitely  co-operative  effort  must 
be  put  forth.  The  basis  for  English  work  should  be 
the  child  with  his  activities,  interests,  and  needs.  Tech- 
nical grammar  should  not  be  emphasized,  but  oral  lan- 
guage lessons  and  dramatization  should  be  constantly 
used. 

Need  of  Centralized  Authority  in  School  Adminis- 
tration.— In  this  country  the  affairs  of  the  schools  re- 
quiring   expert    professional  supervision    only  are   too 


188  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

much  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  this  excessive 
freedom  of  American  communities  in  the  control  of  their 
educational  institutions  has  not  led  to  a  wise  and  ade- 
quate selection  of  studies  for  the  great  majority  of  stu- 
dents. It  is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule  for 
American  school  boards  to  investigate  seriously  the 
community  needs  and  then  to  set  up  a  school  system 
that  will  function  with  reference  to  these  needs.  Thus 
we  see  in  the  United  States  to-day  example  after  example 
of  wholly  bad  school  organizations  due  to  irrespon- 
sible school  boards.  The  smaller  the  community  the 
harder  it  seems  to  be  for  the  people  to  get  away  from  the 
old  traditional  view-point  in  education.  Some  reason- 
able governmental  control  would  compel  negligent  com- 
munities to  do  their  duty  toward  all  types  and  conditions 
of  school  children.  There  ought  to  be  some  more  efficient 
method  of  organization,  supervision,  and  management, 
which,  because  of  the  expertness  behind  it,  would  stir 
the  people  to  action  in  providing  schools  that  can  meet 
twentieth-century  needs  and  not  seventeenth  or  eight- 
eenth century  ones.  The  new  ideals  and  methods  in 
education  which  are  developed  in  some  of  the  larger 
cities  have  not  reached  the  smaller  places.  The  average 
citizen  knows  little  about  school  development.  It  is 
necessary,  therefore,  for  the  impetus  and  the  idea  to 
come  from  some  constituted  authority. 

Explanation  of  Chart. — The  following  explanations 
of  the  color  chart  will  make  clearer  the  constructive  pro- 
posals of  this  chapter. 

Figure  i  represents  the  situation  as  it  exists  in  the 
majority  of  the  high  schools  of  the  United  States. 
Secondary  education  is  built  upon  the  work  done  in  the 
elementary  school  period  of  eight  years,  and  there  is  a 


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RELATION   TO   THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL     189 

recognized  gap  or  lack  of  articulation  between  the  two 
grades  of  instruction  due  to  differences  in  aim,  function, 
methods,  and  general  organization. 

Figure  2  represents  a  possible  scheme  of  organization 
in  towns  where  there  is  no  possibility  of  getting  appro- 
priations for  industrial  or  vocational  work  and  where  a 
compromise  plan  could  be  brought  about.  Here  the 
programme  is  to  provide  six  years  of  elementary  school 
training  for  all,  followed  by  an  intermediate  school  offer- 
ing instruction  of  a  general  nature  with  the  avowed  pur- 
pose of  giving  to  all  pupils  a  longer  period  of  training 
and  a  better  course  of  instruction  up  to  their  fifteenth 
year,  or  through  the  ninth  grade,  than  is  now  available, 
and  yet  not  giving  instruction  either  of  a  trade  or  of  a 
vocational  or  even  pre-vocational  type.  In  this  scheme 
the  ancient  languages  and  mathematics  would  be  post- 
poned to  the  tenth  grade,  or  high  school  proper,  and  the 
emphasis  would  be  placed  on  history,  commercial  geog- 
raphy, literature,  elementary  science,  the  elements  of 
sociology,  and  economics  and  domestic  science  and  art, 
and  manual  training.  Intellectual  development  is  the 
chief  object  of  the  school  work,  and  the  manual-training 
work  is  added  solely  as  a  means  for  providing  a  certain 
training  for  hand  and  eye  and  as  an  added  inducement 
for  the  longer  attendance  of  many  who  otherwise  would 
drop  out.  There  is  no  intention,  however,  of  teaching 
or  preparing  for  a  trade.  The  manual  work  will,  how- 
ever, be  practical  and  utilitarian  and  will  develop  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  skill  in  wood  and  metal  work.  The  high 
school  work  of  the  tenth,  eleventh,  and  twelfth  grades 
following  this  intermediate  department  will  be  organized 
chiefly  and  definitely  for  college  preparation. 

Another  plan  for  cities  and  towns  that  have  felt  the 


190  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

criticism  of  the  present  time  and  are  desirous  of  reor- 
ganizing their  schools  to  give  equal  opportunities  to 
prepare  for  the  trades  as  well  as  for  the  professions  is 
shown  in  Figure  3.  Here  the  plan  is  for  the  work  to  be 
sharply  differentiated,  beginning  with  the  seventh  grade. 
Those  who  plan  to  go  to  high  school  and  college  are 
urged  to  enter  the  academic  courses,  while  those  who 
desire  specific  vocational  training  find  a  six-year  voca- 
tional course  at  their  command.  In  the  academic  course 
the  attempt  is  made  to  bring  down  into  the  intermediate 
department  some  of  the  high  school  subjects  and,  by 
using  high  school  methods,  train  students  more  effi- 
ciently and  in  a  shorter  time  for  college.  A  modern  lan- 
guage is  offered  in  the  seventh  year  and  continues 
throughout  the  intermediate  department,  with  advanced 
courses  as  electives  in  the  high  school.  Algebra  also  is 
given  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades,  and  the  English 
work  is  of  a  more  advanced  type  than  now  found  in  the 
grammar  grades.  Latin  is  postponed  until  the  tenth 
grade  for  the  reason  that  it  is  thought  better  to  gain  a 
fairly  adequate  knowledge  of  a  modern  language  first. 
This  group  of  students  who  are  going  on  to  high  school 
might  be  divided  into  two  sections,  and  the  exception- 
ally able  pupils  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  who 
intend  to  go  to  college  may  be  segregated,  thereby  saving 
them  one  year  or  more  in  finishing  high  school  and  en- 
tering upon  their  college  career. 

In  the  industrial  courses  in  this  type  of  intermediate 
school  the  boys  and  girls  who  desire  training  for  indus- 
trial work  immediately  on  leaving  school  are  given  an 
opportunity  to  learn  the  elements  of  desirable  wage-earn- 
ing occupations  together  with  the  general  Cultural  courses 
which  should  broaden  their  ideas.     The  school  should  be 


RELATION   TO   THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL     191 

supplied  with  as  wide  a  variety  of  equipment  as  the  par- 
ticular community  concerned  can  afford.  Machines  for 
shop  work,  both  for  wood  and  iron,  printing-presses,  a 
bookbinding  plant,  apparatus  in  physics  and  chemistry 
for  the  study  of  electricity  and  other  applied  problems, 
together  with  equipment  for  the  girls  in  domestic  sci- 
ence and  art,  millinery,  household  management,  etc., 
should  be  provided.  This  group  of  students  should  have 
a  longer  school  day,  and  half  of  the  time  should  be  spent 
in  hand-work  and  in  the  shop.  The  school  could  also 
for  them  very  profitably  be  run  six  days  a  week  and 
twelve  months  a  year. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  larger  and  more  pros- 
perous towns  will  restrict  the  curriculums  of  their  schools 
when  the  need  for  such  supplementary  types  of  instruc- 
tion is  shown.  Some  cities  already  have  set  a  good 
example  in  offering  opportunities  of  this  sort. 

In  Figure  4  the  attempt  is  made  to  show  how  these 
larger  cities  and  towns  may  organize  their  public  school 
plants  to  offer  opportunities  for  different  sorts  of  train- 
ing. The  intermediate  schools  are  so  arranged  that  four 
distinct  lines  of  work  are  offered,  followed  in  each  case 
by  higher  or  more  advanced  courses  in  the  high  school 
proper.  The  academic  work  is  organized  practically  on 
the  same  basis  as  that  suggested  in  Figure  3,  but  in  addi- 
tion to  the  work  offered  in  the  former  there  are  general 
and  commercial  courses.  The  general  course  with  elec- 
tives  in  the  manual  training  and  domestic  science  group 
leads,  more  particularly  in  the  case  of  the  girls,  to  the 
city  normal  training-school  or  to  certain  colleges  more 
liberal  in  their  entrance  requirements,  while  in  the  case 
of  the  boys  it  offers  a  good  course  of  an  academic  char- 
acter as  preparation  for  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  the  city 


192  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

other  than  the  industrial  trades,  and  one  which  also  pre- 
pares for  the  colleges  mentioned  above. 

The  commercial  course  is  organized  so  that  by  the 
time  the  intermediate  school  period  is  finished  the 
student  has  a  training  equal  to  or  superior,  on  the  me- 
chanical side,  to  that  offered  in  the  ordinary  private 
business  college,  and,  in  addition,  has  a  fairly  adequate 
general  training. 

The  work  offered  in  the  intermediate  industrial  courses 
should,  because  of  the  possibility  of  larger  financial  op- 
portunities, be  much  more  complete  and  should  be  fol- 
lowed by  mechanical  and  practical  arts  high  schools,  and 
also  by  trade-schools  of  an  advanced  secondary  grade, 
where  boys  and  girls  may  be  trained  for  careers  in  the 
industrial  world.  The  industrial  courses  may  be  treated 
"liberally"  or  "vocationally."  In  the  general  course 
manual  training  will  function  not  as  preparation  for  a 
trade  but  as  a  means  of  developing  interest  in  and  ap- 
preciation of  hand- work,  and  also  as  a  means  of  pro- 
viding the  school  another  point  of  contact  with  life  that 
will  appeal  strongly  to  certain  elements  in  the  school  pop- 
ulation, thus  inducing  them  to  stay  in  school  longer  than 
they  otherwise  would.  It  will  have  the  further  liberaliz- 
ing and  also  vocationalizing  function  of  contributing  to 
the  boys'  and  girls'  insight  into  the  personal  problem  of 
vocational  fitness. 

The  commercial  high  school  also,  while  it  follows  more 
particularly  after  the  commercial  courses  offered  in  the 
intermediate  schools,  should  be  considered  a  vocational 
school  and  should  be  open  to  students  who  have  not 
taken  the  commercial  work  in  the  earlier  grades  as  well 
as  to  those  who  hold  certificates  from  such  courses.  At 
the  present  time  many  school  systems  are  top-heavy 


RELATION  TO  THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL     193 

in  that  they  carry  more  high  school  work  and  have  more 
teachers  in  the  high  school  and  spend  a  much  greater  per 
capita  on  the  high  school  pupils  than  the  elementary 
school  conditions  would  seem  to  justify.  The  increased 
cost  of  these  different  types  of  schools  must  be  justified, 
and  they  must  not  be  built  and  organized  at  the  expense 
of  efficiency.  They  should  consequently,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, open  their  immense  plants  and  place  their  modern 
equipment  at  the  disposal  of  all  who  are  likely  to  benefit 
from  the  courses  offered. 

Figures  5,  6,  and  7  represent  schemes  of  organization 
adjusted  to  situations  in  towns  where  it  seems  best  to 
offer  only  two  distinct  grades  of  work — the  general  and 
the  vocational.  With  the  school  so  organized  that  the 
general  and  industrial  types  of  work  comprise  the  cur- 
riculum, the  pupils  can  at  least  be  given  a  taste  of  cul- 
ture not  guaranteed  by  the  curriculum  of  our  grade 
schools  to-day.  In  addition,  each  year  they  will  be  re- 
ceiving a  larger  and  larger  amount  of  industrial  training. 
Figures  5  and  6  differ  in  the  one  particular  that  in  the 
former  the  community  is  willing  to  offer  a  six-year  gen- 
eral course  and  a  three-year  course  of  limited  opportu- 
nities for  the  trades,  while  in  the  other  the  townspeople, 
being  largely  artisans  and  mechanics  of  one  type  or  an- 
other, vote  for  the  six-year  industrial  course  and  the 
three-year  general. 

In  the  town  pictured  for  which  the  plan  in  Figure  7 
is  conceived  the  intermediate  school  comprises  all  the 
education  the  public  schools  afford  beyond  the  elemen- 
tary period  of  six  years.  The  financial  resources  are  so 
limited  under  the  present  system  that  the  best  the  town 
can  do  is  to  offer  a  two-year  high  school  course.  But 
as  the  academic  training,  local  traditions  and  conditions 


194  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

are  not  such  as  to  bring  many  pupils  into  the  high  school 
and  retain  them  through  the  tenth  grade,  the  scheme  of 
having  no  high  school  and  offering  a  three-year  interme- 
diate school  with  both  general  and  vocational  courses 
should  be  popular,  particularly  so  as  the  emphasis  would 
gradually  be  placed  more  and  more  on  the  industrial 
subjects.  This  type  of  school  organization  should  offer 
a  curriculum  in  which  the  traditional  intellectual  sub- 
ject-matter is  entirely  subordinate,  and  the  dominant 
aim  of  the  school  is  to  return  its  graduates  to  the  commu- 
nity socially  efficient  in  some  degree  at  least.  In  many 
American  towns  this  reorganization  could  be  effected 
without  much  difficulty.  Figure  7  represents  an  attempt 
to  satisfy  the  wants  of  a  small  community,  furnishing 
something  more  than  the  minimum  information  offered 
in  the  academic  work  of  the  one,  two,  or  three  teacher 
two-year  high  school  and  giving  some  practical  voca- 
tional training  for  life  besides. 

Need  for  Educational  Guidance  in  Upper  Grades. — 
There  is  another  phase  of  this  whole  question  of  the 
reorganization  of  public  education  which  is  becoming 
more  and  more  important  and  which  demands  consider- 
ation here.  When  one  considers  the  relation  of  the  ele- 
mentary to  the  intermediate  schools  the  question  arises 
whether  the  boys  and  girls  at  this  critical  period  need 
careful  direction  and  guidance  in  assisting  them  in  under- 
standing their  own  needs  and  possibilities,  their  capaci- 
ties, and  their  relation  to  the  school  and  community  life. 
There  is  no  period,  perhaps,  in  their  lives  when  the 
home  has  so  little  influence  as  at  this  transitional  stage. 
All  through  the  grades  a  careful  study  of  the  individual 
characteristics  of  all  pupils  should  have  been  made  and 
recorded  by  sympathetic  and  intelligent  teachers  and 


RELATION   TO  THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL     L95 

principals.  These  records  should  be  sent  to  the  teachers 
and  administrators  of  the  intermediate  schools.  A  com- 
mittee of  the  faculty  should  be  appointed  to  study  both 
the  records  and  the  children,  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  home  conditions,  and  to  ascertain  the  purposes  of  the 
parents  in  sending  their  children  to  school.  Out  of  all 
this  should  come  a  wiser  selection  of  the  courses  to  be 
pursued  by  the  individual  pupils  than  can  result  from 
the  hit-or-miss  methods  of  to-day.  Meetings  with  the 
parents  should  be  arranged  and  many  points  of  common 
concern  should  be  discussed,  as,  for  example,  how  to 
retain  pupils  in  school  longer  or  how  to  make  the  school 
function  more  broadly  in  the  immediate  life  of  the 
community. 

Conclusion. — Under  these  plans  of  reorganization  the 
tenth,  eleventh,  and  twelfth  grades  will  constitute  the 
period  of  high  school  education.  In  this  readjustment 
American  cities  and  towns  can  provide  a  system  of  edu- 
cation which  will  largely  answer  the  demands  noted 
above  and  go  far  toward  reconciling  the  conflict  of  aims 
now  prevalent.  Again,  those  who  believe  in  practical 
training  and  social  service  and  who  have  maintained 
that  college  preparation  has  too  large  a  part  in  the  plans 
and  purposes  of  the  high  schools  of  this  country  will  find 
points  to  advocate  rather  than  pretexts  for  criticism. 

The  colleges  also,  who  have  felt  that  the  high  schools 
have  unduly  broadened  their  courses  under  pressure  of 
local  needs  by  including  subjects  that  should  not  be 
offered  for  entrance  credit,  could  turn  their  attention 
more  particularly  to  that  group  who  are  coming  to 
college,  thereby  helping  secure  more  unity  in  the  work 
offered  for  college-entrance  credit.  Again,  if  the  three 
years  of  high  school  proper  be  organized  carefully,  the 


196  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

group  of  students  who  are  expecting  to  enter  college  will 
be  given  their  academic  training  under  conditions  mak- 
ing for  better  scholarship  and  broader  intellectual  de- 
velopment than  under  the  present  arrangement.  This 
little  group  of  students,  because  of  singleness  of  aim, 
will  have  a  homogeneity  that  will  make  it  possible  to 
accomplish  more  than  is  usually  done  in  three  years. 
The  fact  that  there  will  be  fewer  students  dropping  out 
will  also  serve  to  hold  the  group  together,  and  in  time 
there  should  be  a  group  consciousness.  Where  lack  of 
financial  resources  makes  it  impossible  to  offer  other 
than  the  academic  course  in  the  high  school,  every  effort 
should  be  made  to  give  as  broad  a  training  as  possible 
in  the  intermediate  school.  In  short,  it  seems  that  some 
such  concerted  effort  at  making  cleaner  articulation  be- 
tween our  great  typical  grades  of  public  education  must 
prevail.     As  Frederick  Paulsen  says: 

It  will  be  the  mightiest  problem  of  the  twentieth  century  to 
build  upon  the  elementary  school  as  a  general  and  fundamental 
form  of  school  a  new  finishing  educational  institution,  or  to  give 
to  the  elementary  school  instruction  its  necessary  conclusion  in 
a  kind  of  vocational  high  school;  a  school  whose  problem  will 
be  the  carrying  forward  and  making  fruitful  of  the  general  educa- 
tion for  vocational  activity. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  RELATION   OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TO  HIGHER 
EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS1 

Clarence  D.>  Kingsley 

HIGH   SCHOOL   INSPECTOR,   MASSACHUSETTS   BOARD   OF   EDUCATION 

In  this  chapter  we  apply  the  term  "college"  to  all 
higher  educational  institutions.  We  include  not  only  col- 
leges of  liberal  arts,  but  also  such  other  colleges  as  require 
a  high  school  course  for  admission. 

Preparation  and  Selection  of  Pupils  for  Higher  Edu- 
cational Institutions. — Preparation  for  college  has  been 
and  still  is  to  a  large  extent  defined  in  terms  of  certain 
subjects  which  have  been  considered  of  special  value  for 
general  intellectual  discipline.  The  subjects  prescribed 
by  colleges  of  liberal  arts  were  so  highly  regarded  for  dis- 
ciplinary purposes  that  agricultural  and  engineering  col- 
leges followed  the  same  practice.  The  "formal  discipline" 
theory  is  now  called  into  question  and  in  its  place  we 
recognize  the  value  of  definite  training  for  specific  pur- 

1  Another  important  aspect  of  the  chapter  topic  not  treated  in  this 
discussion  should  be  here  kept  in  mind — the  conception,  namely,  of  secon- 
dary education  which  shall  embrace  the  work  of  the  freshman  and  soph- 
omore years  of  the  ordinary  liberal  arts  college  curriculum.  For  very 
suggestive  discussions  of  this  important  administrative  and  pedagogical 
issue  the  reader  is  referred  to  two  recent  issues  of  the  School  Review: — 
articles  in  the  issue  of  January,  1913,  by  C.  H.  Judd  and  by  J.  R.  Angell; 
and  an  article  in  the  issue  of  March,  1013,  by  C.  L.  McLane,  describing 
such  an  "  extended-upward  "  high  school  at  Fresno,  Cal. — Editor. 

197 


198  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

poses  both  liberal  and  vocational.  The  reorganization 
of  secondary  education  is  a  task  which  requires  intimate 
knowledge  of  pupils  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  years  of 
age  as  well  as  a  comprehension  of  the  needs  of  society. 
The  accomplishment  of  this  task  calls  for  the  sym- 
pathetic co-operation  of  all  educational  agencies.  To 
this  end  the  largest  possible  freedom  should  be  extended 
to  the  high  school,  and  the  college  should  be  asked  to 
criticise  the  product  of  the  high  school  in  terms  of  breadth 
of  outlook,  seriousness  of  purpose,  and  command  of  the 
intellectual  tools  which  the  pupil  must  use  in  college.  In 
this  chapter  I  shall  outline  the  considerations  which  seem 
to  me  essential  in  planning  college-preparatory  curric- 
ulums. 

Heretofore,  the  training  of  pupils  has  been  regarded  as 
the  absorbing  concern  of  the  high  schools.  Hereafter, 
these  schools  should  be  of  increasing  service  to  higher 
education  by  discovering  pupils  of  ability  and  by  aiding 
such  pupils  in  choosing  the  particular  institution  that 
will  equip  them  to  be  of  the  greatest  value  to  society. 
To  perform  this  service  the  high  school  must  organize 
two  agencies;  namely,  the  general  curriculum  and  educa- 
tional guidance.  In  this  chapter  I  shall  briefly  describe 
the  general  curriculum  and  also  educational  guidance. 

I.    CONSIDERATIONS    ESSENTIAL    IN    PLANNING    COLLEGE- 
PREPARATORY    CURRICULUMS 

The  Previous  Experience,  the  Capacity,  and  the  Inter- 
ests of  the  Pupil. — Unless  the  course  of  study  in  each 
subject  is  organized  with  direct  reference  to  the  previous 
experience,  the  capacity,  and  the  interests  of  the  boy  or 
girl,  satisfactory  results  cannot  be  expected,  and  many 
pupils  who  contemplated  going  to  a  higher  institution 


RELATION   TO   HIGHER  INSTITUTIONS        199 

will  conclude  that  they  are  misfits  and,  as  a  result,  either 
take  up  other  school  work  or  leave  school.  The  combina- 
tion of  subjects  occasionally  given  to  college-preparatory 
students  in  the  first  year,  namely,  ancient  history,  Latin, 
algebra,  and  college-preparatory  English,  is  peculiarly 
inappropriate  to  the  vast  majority  of  boys  and  girls 
fourteen  years  of  age,  including  those  who  would  make 
excellent  material  for  the  A.B.  course  in  a  college  of 
liberal  arts.  Unless  the  work  of  the  first  year  is  revised 
speedily,  the  defection  of  capable  pupils  from  college- 
preparatory  ranks  is  likely  to  grow  still  more  serious. 

Subjects  Used  as  Tools  in  Higher  Educational  Insti- 
tutions.— The  colleges  should  indicate  the  subjects  and 
the  parts  of  subjects  that  are  essential  as  tools  in  the  work 
of  the  institution  as  a  whole.  It  is  generally  recognized 
that  the  best  command  of  English  expression  that  may  be 
expected  of  a  pupil  eighteen  years  of  age  is  fundamen- 
tal in  all  higher  educational  institutions.  In  engineer- 
ing colleges  a  large  part  of  the  work  is  dependent  upon 
mathematics.  In  colleges  of  liberal  arts  Latin  was  indis- 
pensable when  text-books  in  all  subjects  were  written  in 
Latin,  but  at  the  present  time  no  subject  other  than 
English  composition  seems  to  be  employed  as  a  tool  in 
the  work  of  the  college  as  a  whole.  If  the  use  of  either 
German  or  French  becomes  common  in  the  departments 
of  the  college,  then  we  have  the  problem  of  furnishing  a 
genuine  command  of  that  language.  This  result  could 
not  be  secured  by  reading  two  or  three  years  of  the  usual 
college-preparatory,  modern-language  literature. 

Distribution  and  Concentration. — It  is  desirable  that 
the  curriculum  of  each  pupil  going  to  a  higher  educa- 
tional institution  should  be  organized  as  far  as  possible 
in  accordance  with  two  principles:  distribution  and  con- 


200  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

centration.  The  first  of  these  principles  mitigates  against 
narrowness  and  overspecialization.  According  to  this 
principle,  subjects  should  be  so  chosen  as  to  introduce  the 
pupil  into  several  relatively  diverse  fields  of  knowledge. 
The  subjects  of  secondary  education  may  for  this  pur- 
pose be  classified  in  the  following  six  groups,  and  it  seems 
reasonable  that  each  pupil  should  take  work  in  at  least 
four  or  five  of  them: 

(i)  Language 

a.  English. 

b.  Ancient  language. 

c.  Modern  foreign  language. 

(2)  Natural  Sciences 

a.  Physical. 

b.  Biological. 

(3)  Social  Studies 

a.  Social  activities  of  the  past — history. 

b.  Social    activities    of    the    present  —  economics, 

civics,  geography,  survey  of  vocations. 

(4)  Mathematics 

a.  Pure. 

b.  Applied. 

(5)  Practical  Arts 

a.  Business. 

b.  Agriculture. 

c.  Household  arts. 

d.  Manual  arts. 

(6)  Fine  Arts 

a.  Music. 

b.  Drawing. 


RELATION  TO   HIGHER   INSTITUTIONS       201 

The  second  of  these  principles,  concentration,  is  in- 
tended to  give  command  of  methods  in  any  given  field  of 
knowledge  and  to  prevent  superficiality  and  dilettan- 
teism.  Such  command  of  methods  may  ordinarily  be 
secured  only  when  a  subject  is  so  organized  that  the 
advanced  work  calls  for  the  application  and  review  of 
elementary  principles  and  processes.  Such  a  coherent 
course  extending  over  three  years,  and  amounting  to  one 
"unit"  each  year,  is  coming  to  be  known  as  a  high  school 
major,  and  a  course  of  two  units  is  called  a  minor.  High 
schools  and  colleges  should  co-operate  to  determine  how 
many  majors  or  how  many  majors  and  minors  are  es- 
sential to  produce  a  strong  curriculum. 

The  educational  value  of  a  major  is  not  wholly  mea- 
sured by  the  extent  to  which  the  advanced  work  depends 
upon  the  elementary  work;  the  close  connection  of  the 
subject  with  the  previous  experience  of  the  pupil  and 
the  extent  to  which  it  enables  him  to  interpret  his  own 
experience  are  of  even  greater  value  in  strengthening  his 
intellectual  processes.  For  this  reason  majors  in  natural 
science  and  in  social  studies  will  undoubtedly,  when  well 
organized,  be  for  many  pupils  of  greater  educational  value 
than  majors  in  either  foreign  languages  or  mathematics. 
It  is  even  possible  that  a  major  in  household  arts,  when  it 
includes  applied  sciences  and  applied  design,  may  prove 
of  greater  educational  value  to  some  girls  than  a  major 
in  mathematics. 

Objections  to  Requirement  that  All  College-Prepara- 
tory Pupils  Concentrate  in  Foreign  Languages  and 
Mathematics. — It  seems  unwise  to  require  every  pupil 
who  desires  to  go  to  college  to  concentrate  in  foreign  lan- 
guages and  mathematics  since  this  requirement  debars 
from  college  many  pupils  who  would  otherwise  fill  impor- 


202  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

tant  places  in  life.  Of  course,  mathematics  is  indispen- 
sable in  engineering  and  foreign  languages  are  essential 
to  certain  courses  in  higher  education,  but  the  needs  of 
society  are  not  limited  to  such  fields. 

A  number  of  colleges  still  require,  in  addition  to  En- 
glish, two  foreign  languages.  This  concentration  upon 
the  language  group  of  studies  seems  excessive  as  it 
leaves  little  opportunity  to  apply  the  principle  of  dis- 
tribution or  to  recognize  individual  interests. 

Training  for  Citizenship. — Even  for  those  who  intend 
to  enter  a  higher  educational  institution,  the  public  tax- 
supported  high  school  cannot  neglect  training  for  citizen- 
ship or  delegate  it  to  the  college  because,  first,  there  is 
no  guarantee  that  any  particular  pupil  will  actually  at- 
tend college,  and,  second,  the  formation  of  civic  ideals 
and  participation  in  some  form  of  community  activities  is 
essential  during  the  adolescent  period.  For  this  purpose 
a  course  dealing  with  the  social  activities  in  the  pupil's 
own  community  and  with  movements  for  human  better- 
ment, local  and  national,  must  find  place  in  the  curricu- 
lum of  the  pupil  preparing  for  a  higher  institution. 

Limitations  of  Small  High  Schools.— Every  discussion 
of  preparation  for  higher  educational  institutions  should 
take  into  account  the  small  high  schools  with  two,  three, 
or  four  teachers.  These  schools  are  factors  of  large  im- 
portance in  rural  communities  and  should  contribute  to 
the  solution  of  the  rural-life  problem,  thereby  directly 
touching  the  national  welfare.  The  requirement  of  any 
subject  that  meets  the  needs  of  only  the  few  preparing 
for  those  colleges  that  make  such  requirement  compels 
these  small  high  schools  either  to  sever  their  relations 
with  these  colleges,  or  to  neglect  the  needs  of  the  ma- 
jority, or  to  jeopardize  efficiency  by  offering  instruction 


RELATION  TO  HIGHER  INSTITUTIONS       203 

in  a  larger  number  of  subjects  than  is  consistent  with 
good  results. 

In  particular,  the  requirement  of  four  years  of  Latin 
for  admission  to  the  A.B.  course  in  certain  colleges  of 
liberal  arts  is  especially  burdensome  so  long  as  the  small 
high  schools  try  to  meet  it.  Desirable  as  it  would  be  to 
keep  the  way  open  for  pupils  who  desire  to  go  to  these 
colleges,  the  cost  is  almost  prohibitive.  Three  Latin 
classes  must  be  instructed  each  year;  namely,  first  year, 
second  year,  and  an  advanced  class  reading  Cicero  one 
year  and  Virgil  the  next.  Consequently,  the  Latin  in- 
struction costs  practically  half  the  salary  of  one  teacher. 
One  modern  language  and  no  ancient  language  would 
undoubtedly  be  far  more  effective  in  the  school  having 
only  two  or  three  teachers. 

II.      THE    GENERAL   CURRICULUM 

Need  for  the  General  Curriculum. — While  there  are  no 
national  statistics  available  as  to  the  proportion  of  high 
school  pupils  who  are  not  decided  upon  their  vocation  or 
their  education  beyond  the  high  school,  there  is  abun- 
dant evidence  to  show  that  the  proportion  is  large,  espe- 
cially in  the  first  and  second  years  of  the  high  school. 
For  these  pupils  a  general  curriculum  is  needed  in  which 
the  attempt  shall  be  deliberately  made  to  help  pupils 
discover  their  aptitudes  and  decide  wisely  upon  their 
educational  careers.  The  fundamental  idea  in  the  gen- 
eral curriculum  should  be  that  of  the  discovery  and  the 
testing  of  aptitudes  together  with  a  broad  survey  of 
vocations  and  of  educational  opportunities.  In  this 
curriculum  the  principle  of  distribution  will  be  empha- 
sized. As  pupils  discover  their  aptitudes  and  decide 
upon  their  vocations  or  educational  careers  they  should 


204  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

be  transferred  from  the  general  curriculum  to  a  special- 
ized curriculum.  Many  high  schools  have  a  so-called 
general  curriculum  which  is  a  mere  hodge  podge.  The 
grounds  upon  which  certain  subjects  are  listed  as  required 
is  vague  and  illogical,  and  little  guidance  is  given  in  the 
choice  of  electives. 

Relation  of  the  General  Curriculum  to  Higher  Educa- 
tion.— It  is  evident  that  this  general  curriculum,  when 
properly  planned  and  conducted,  will  be  the  means  of 
securing  for  higher  education  many  pupils  of  excellent 
ability.  There  are  two  main  reasons  why  the  decision 
upon  higher  education  so  often  cannot  wisely  be  made 
until  the  third  or  fourth  year;  namely,  first,  aptitudes 
often  develop  slowly,  and,  second,  contact  with  high 
school  teachers,  an  enlarged  view  of  the  opportunities 
and  responsibilities  of  life,  and  the  development  of  per- 
sonal ideals  create  the  desire  for  more  adequate  equip- 
ment for  life.  To-day  the  large  majority  of  pupils  come 
from  homes  where  neither  father  nor  mother  has  had  the 
benefits  of  even  a  high  school  education  to  say  nothing 
of  a  college  education.  While  these  parents  are  ambitious 
for  their  children  they  have  no  first-hand  knowledge  of 
higher  educational  opportunities. 

The  absence  of  such  a  well-planned  general  curriculum 
in  the  American  high  school  is  in  part  due  to  the  present 
lack  of  flexibility  in  college-entrance  requirements,  com- 
pelling the  pupil  to  decide,  upon  entering  the  high  school, 
whether  or  not  he  will  prepare  for  college.  This  forced 
decision  works  harm  both  ways.  Many  who  begin  the 
present  college-preparatory  curriculum  leave  school  be- 
cause the  work  makes  no  appeal.  Others  who  do  not 
commence  the  college-preparatory  curriculum  would  later 
decide  to  go  to  college  if  they  could  get  entrance  credit 
for  work  already  done. 


RELATION   TO   HIGHER   INSTITUTIONS        LM).'. 


HI.      EDUCATIONAL   GUIDANCE 

Educational  Guidance  Defined. — By  educational  gui- 
dance is  meant  the  assistance  which  the  school  should  give 
the  pupil  in  choosing  educational  opportunities  wisely, 
including  the  choice  of  electives  within  the  high  school, 
the  decision  as  to  attendance  upon  a  higher  educational 
institution,  and  the  selection  of  a  particular  institution. 
This  guidance  does  not  imply  that  the  school  is  to  choose 
for  the  individual;  it  implies  that  the  school  is  to  furnish 
all  necessary  information  upon  which  the  pupil  may  base 
an  intelligent  choice  and  that  it  should  aim  to  develop 
in  him  the  power  to  make  wise  decisions. 

Educational  guidance  is  closely  related  to  vocational 
guidance  but  is  not  identical  with  it.  The  studies  chosen 
before  a  vocation  is  selected  should  help  reveal  abilities 
and  aptitudes,  and  should  in  consequence  help  in  voca- 
tional guidance.  When  a  vocation  is  selected  many 
studies  will  be  determined  thereby,  while  others  will  be 
based  upon  supplementary  needs.  Educational  gui- 
dance is  really  broader  than  vocational  guidance,  since  it 
must  assist  in  the  choice  of  avocations  as  well  as  voca- 
tions and  must  consider  preparation  for  all  the  duties  of 
life,  including  duties  as  a  member  of  the  family,  the  com- 
munity, the  state,  and  other  social  groups. 

Guidance  in  Choosing  Electives. — Under  a  proper  sys- 
tem of  guidance  much  of  the  objection  to  electives  in 
the  high  school  will  vanish.  The  value  of  each  subject 
should  be  discussed  with  the  pupils  and  printed  state- 
ments given  them  as  a  basis  of  conference  with  their 
parents.  When  pupils  have  chosen  their  electives  it  is 
desirable  that  they  should  explain  why  they  think  these 
particular  subjects  will  meet  their  own  needs  and  super- 


206  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ficial  reasons  should  not  be  accepted.  This  kind  of 
guidance  will  help  develop  a  thoughtful  attitude  toward 
school  work  and  in  consequence  yield  larger  returns  in 
both  character  and  intellectual  development.  This  kind 
of  training  in  choice  will  be  excellent  preparation  for  the 
wise  use  of  the  elective  system  in  college. 

Higher  educational  institutions  would  render  a  dis- 
tinct service  by  formulating  statements  of  the  way  in 
which  various  high  school  subjects  will  be  of  assistance 
in  higher  education.  Such  statements  as  these  would 
be  welcomed  by  the  high  schools  as  a  means  of  increasing 
the  interest  of  pupils  in  their  work.  A  mere  list  of  pre- 
scribed subjects  seems  to  have  no  particular  value  in 
developing  genuine  interest. 

Decision  as  to  Higher  Education. — It  is  occasionally 
difficult  to  decide  whether  or  not  to  encourage  a  par- 
ticular pupil  to  go  to  a  higher  educational  institution. 
Sometimes  his  parents  are  so  much  in  need  of  his  assis- 
tance and  sometimes  his  capacity  is  so  limited  or  his 
ambition  so  meagre  that  he  ought  to  go  directly  to  work. 
In  that  case,  however,  he  should  be  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  the  high  school  cannot  complete  his  education 
and  that  he  must  improve  such  educational  opportunities 
as  may  lie  within  his  reach. 

The  need  for  vocational  training  beyond  the  high 
school  is  best  appreciated  when  the  pupil  has  chosen  his 
vocation,  but  even  before  that  time  he  should  be  im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that  vocations  for  which  thorough 
preparation,  more  or  less  specific,  is  not  needed  are  con- 
tinually declining  in  number  and  in  importance.  The 
need  for  continued  liberal  education  should  be  based 
upon  its  importance  in  developing  leaders  who  can  grap- 
ple in  a  large  way  with  the  problems  of  the  day  and  upon 


RELATION  TO   HIGHER  INSTITUTIONS       207 

its  power  to  give  increased  enjoyment  and  fuller  under- 
standing of  life.  Too  often  liberal  education  has  been 
pictured  by  high  school  pupils  as  a  means  of  social  pre- 
ferment, a  polite  endowment,  largely  remote  from  the 
vital  interests  of  life. 

Choice  of  Kind  of  Higher  Education. — It  is  impor- 
tant that  the  high  school  should  give  adequate  informa- 
tion regarding  the  many  different  kinds  of  higher  edu- 
cation. Ordinarily  this  is  not  done,  and  many  pupils 
do  not  go  to  a  higher  institution  because  they  have  not 
heard  of  the  kind  of  education  that  they  think  would 
meet  their  needs. 

The  variety  of  higher  institutions  is  continually  in- 
creasing and  now  includes  colleges  of  agriculture,  archi- 
tecture, commerce,  dentistry,  education,  engineering, 
fine  arts,  forestry,  journalism,  law,  liberal  arts,  and  medi- 
cine. There  are  also  trade-schools,  normal  schools, 
business  schools,  and  schools  for  nurses.  Colleges  for 
women  are  offering  secretarial  and  home  economics 
courses.  There  are  also  graduate  professional  schools 
for  which  a  college  course  is  a  prerequisite. 

Choice  of  Particular  Institution. — Among  institutions 
offering  the  same  type  of  education  there  are  important 
differences  that  will  increase  or  diminish  their  value  to 
the  individual  pupil.  The  teacher  or  principal  who  is 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  pupil  in  all  his  relations 
can  often  give  guidance  of  the  utmost  value,  but  there 
are  so  many  factors  to  be  taken  into  consideration  that 
the  teacher  must  exercise  great  caution.  It  is  generally 
better  to  give  too  little  rather  than  too  much  advice. 
On  the  other  hand,  all  information  available  should  be 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  pupil  so  that  his  choice  may 
be  based  upon  the  fullest  possible  knowledge.     Such  facts 


208  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

as  the  following  regarding  particular  institutions  should 
be  ascertained  and  freely  supplied: 

(i)  Entrance  requirements. 

(2)  Standards  of  work  required  after  admission. 

(3)  Attention  paid  to  physical  development. 

(4)  Healthful  climate. 

(5)  Opportunities  for  wholesome  recreation. 

(6)  Democratic  spirit. 

(7)  Civic  and  social  ideals. 

(8)  Minimum  and  average  expenses. 

(9)  Opportunities  for  partial  and  entire  self-support, 

together  with  the  exact  nature  of  such  oppor- 
tunities. 
(10)  In  case  of  a  vocational  or  professional  institution, 
success  of  graduates  in  securing  remunerative 
employment. 

In  addition  to  such  facts  as  the  above,  much  depends 
upon  the  attention  given  by  institutions  to  the  welfare 
and  progress  of  individual  students.  While  the  boy 
should  be  impressed  with  his  own  responsibility,  never- 
theless certain  institutions  have  remarkable  success  in 
looking  after  individual  needs,  especially  in  matters  of 
both  scholarship  and  morals.1 

1  As  an  illustration  of  the  administrative  relationship  of  the  high 
school,  see  the  Appendix. — Editor. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  RELATION   OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TO  THE 
INDUSTRIAL  LIFE   OF  THE   COMMUNITY 

Frank  Tracy  Carlton,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF    ECONOMICS    AND    HISTORY,    ALBION    COLLEGE 

Early  High  School  Education  Was  Vocational  in 
Character. — The  first  American  public  high  school,  es- 
tablished in  Boston  in  182 1,  was  intended  to  be  a  pre- 
paratory school  for  Harvard  College;  and,  at  this  time, 
Harvard  was  almost  exclusively  a  training-school  for 
ministers.  This  and  other  early  high  schools  were 
founded  to  serve  practical  ends;  they  were  vocational 
schools.  The  one  curriculum  was  definitely  prescribed. 
By  the  middle  of  last  century  the  student  who  did  not 
wish  to  go  to  college  and  obtain  professional  training 
began  insistently  to  demand  attention.  The  line  of  least 
resistance  was  followed.  New  subjects  were  added  to 
the  programme  of  prescribed  studies  and  advanced  to  a 
position  of  equal  rank  with  languages  and  mathematics. 
At  last  the  curriculum  became  top-heavy,  misshapen, 
and  burdensome.  The  next  plan,  perforce,  adopted 
was  that  of  offering  separate  curriculums,  the  so-called 
"classical,"  "modern  language,"  "scientific"  courses. 
The  student  was  allowed  to  elect  one  of  these.  Finally, 
in  the  eighties,  came  the  organization  in  the  large  cities 
of  separate  high  schools,  such  as  classical,  manual  train- 
ing, and  commercial. 

209 


210  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Among  the  first  concessions  granted  in  response  to  the 
scientific  and  industrial  progress  of  the  century  was  the 
introduction  into  the  old  curriculum  of  physics  and  chem- 
istry. But  the  most  revolutionary  step  was  taken  when 
manual  training  and  laboratory  work  was  introduced 
into  the  high  school  curriculum.  The  manual  training 
movement  offered  incontrovertible  evidence  of  a  new 
industrial  situation.  It  became  evident  that  the  high 
school  was  no  longer  to  be  merely  a  preparatory  training- 
school  for  certain  of  the  so-called  learned  professions. 
In  spite  of  bitter  opposition,  the  advocates  of  manual 
training  persisted ;  they  were  the  pioneers  of  a  new  epoch 
in  secondary  education.  In  1880  the  first  American 
manual  training  school  was  opened  in  Saint  Louis.  Three 
years  later  manual  training  was  introduced  into  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Boston*.  The  Scott  Manual  Training 
School  of  Toledo  and  the  Chicago  Manual  Training 
School  were  opened  in  1884.  Baltimore  also  introduced 
manual  training  in  1884.  One  year  later  Philadelphia 
opened  her  first  manual  training  school. 

Haphazard  Changes  in  the  High  School  Curriculum.— 
Like  the  changes  in  the  high  school  curriculum  which 
preceded  its  introduction,  manual  training  was  added 
in  a  haphazard  fashion.  It  was  hastily  stuck  on  to  an 
already  pieced-together  curriculum  in  spite  of  ridicule 
and  an  appeal  to  tradition.  The  most  beneficial  result 
of  the  manual  training  movement  is  not  the  introduction 
of  hand-work  into  the  high  school,  but  the  impulse 
given  to  a  scientific  study  of  educational  ideals,  values, 
and  methods.  Since  manual  training  was  first  intro- 
duced into  the  high  school  instead  of  the  elementary 
grades,  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  the  vocational  or 
utilitarian  value  of  manual  training  was  not  minimized 


RELATION  TO  THE  INDUSTRIAL   LIFE       211 

by  its  leading  advocates.  Later  the  pedagogical  value 
of  hand-work  was  stressed  until,  in  the  words  of  the  Mas 
sachusetts  Commission  on  Industrial  Education,  manual 
training  "has  been  severed  from  real  life  as  completely 
as  have  other  school  activities."  Manual  training  in 
our  public  schools  to-day  is  too  often  "abstract,  isolated, 
impractical,  and  unsocial  in  character."  And  now  the 
insistent  demand  is  again  being  made  for  up-to-date 
industrial  or  vocational  training  in  the  high  school. 
This  demand  is  not  merely  an  irrational  yearning  after 
a  new  method  or  for  a  change.  It  rests  upon  a  firm 
foundation;  it  is  due  to  the  growing  need  of  adjustment 
of  the  content  of  high  school  education  to  the  kind  of 
training  demanded  in  the  various  ranks  of  the  world's 
workers.  The  German  educator,  Doctor  Kcrschen- 
steiner,  declares  that  it  is  erroneous  to  assume  "that  it 
is  possible  to  educate  a  man  without  reference  to  some 
special  calling." 

Indeed,  high  school  education  has,  in  a  large  measure, 
lost  its  original  significance.  Culture  is  now  stressed, 
and  the  non-vocational  side  of  high  school  education  is 
often  upheld  as  its  chief  glory.  By  a  curious,  but  not 
unusual,  process  of  slow  evolution  the  old  form  of  voca- 
tional high  school  education  is  now  esteemed  because 
it  gives  its  possessors  ideals  and  mannerisms  which  are 
distinctly  opposite  to  those  bestowed  by  the  newer  forms 
of  vocational  training — in  short,  because  its  ideals  are 
now  non-vocational  or  cultural.  Reform  in  high  school 
education  means  a  return  to  first  principles,  modified 
to  fit  the  demands  of  a  complex  industrial  life  in  which 
specialization  and  subdivision  of  labor  are  character- 
istics of  prime  importance. 

Since  the  work  of  the  early  high  school  was  vocational 


212  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

in  character,  surely  to  demand  that  vocational  training 
be  given  by  the  modern  high  school  is  not  radical  or 
unwarranted.  It  is  the  duty  of  educators  to-day,  instead 
of  holding  up  their  hands  in  horror  at  the  alleged  prof- 
anation of  the  traditional  curriculum  and  educational 
ideal,  to  seek  diligently  and  patiently  to  understand  the 
course  of  progress  and  to  prepare  young  men  and  young 
women  for  efficient  service  in  the  complex  heterogene- 
ous society  of  a  modern  democratic  nation.  It  is  in- 
sisted that  the  past  and  past  cultural  forms  are  of  value 
only  in  so  far  as  they  assist  in  the  correct  interpretation 
of  the  present. 

The  high  school  curriculum  has  not  expanded  in  an 
orderly  manner  to  meet  adequately  new  conditions  which 
industrial  evolution  has  thrust  upon  an  unprepared 
nation.  A  few  haphazard,  unsystematic  leaps  in  the 
dark  have  been  made  under  the  guidance  of  one-idea 
educational  enthusiasts.  The  demand  of  the  hour  is 
for  a  careful  study  of  the  educational  needs  of  the  youth 
of  to-day,  and  of  the  appropriate  pedagogical  methods 
of  supplying  those  needs.  One  leads  to  an  investigation 
of  industrial  progress  and  of  the  new  methods  of  doing 
the  world's  work  in  a  democratic  era  when  the  workers 
are  recognized  not  only  as  workers  but  also  as  citizens 
and  as  human  beings  worthy  of  living  joyous  and  dig- 
nified, as  well  as  industrious,  lives.  The  other  involves  a 
careful  study  of  the  psychology  of  the  youth.  Each  and 
every  educational  method  and  ideal,  old  or  new,  should 
be  subjected  to  careful  and  unbiassed  scrutiny  from  these 
two  dissimilar  educational  standpoints — that  of  sociol- 
ogy and  that  of  psychology. 

The  High  School  Was  Organized  Before  Large-Scale 
Industry  Became  Important. — When  the  American  pub- 


.       RELATION   TO   THE   INDUSTRIAL   LIFE        213 

lie  school  system  was  organized  and  the  American  high 
school  was  made  an  integral  part  of  it,  large-scale  indus- 
try, subdivided  labor,  great  industrial  cities,  and  a  large 
and  powerful  wage-earning  group  of  working  men  had  not 
yet  been  called  into  existence.  Its  institutional  form, 
which  includes  its  curriculums,  methods,  ideals,  and  values, 
was  developed  under  a  now  outgrown  industrial  regime. 
Time  is,  indeed,  required  to  remodel  educational,  legal, 
political,  and  ethical  systems  so  that  they  will  minister 
to  the  needs  of  modern  industrial  society.  It  is  the 
primary  function  of  an  educational  system  to  aid  in  this 
adjustment.  But  the  public  school  system  is  an  insti- 
tution and  subject  to  the  limitations  peculiar  to  insti- 
tutions. Institutionalism  is  a  manifestation  of  social 
inertia.  Institutions  are  the  crystallized  and  formalized 
expression  of  social  demands  and  ideals;  but  every  insti- 
tution, social,  religious,  political,  or  educational,  is  the 
product  of  a  former  and  usually  outgrown  balance  of 
social  forces.  In  a  progressive  country  and  epoch,  at 
the  moment  when  an  institution  attains  a  certain  form 
and  quality,  new  forces  enter  the  arena  and  a  need  for  a 
new  institutional  form  is  imperative.  Thus  education, 
which  should  be  a  potent  factor  in  hastening  and  direct- 
ing human  progress  and  in  reducing  social  friction,  may, 
when  attacked  by  the  dry-rot  of  institutionalism,  become 
a  potent  factor  in  delaying  the  adjustment  of  social  and 
political  ideals  to  fit  the  new  conditions  forced  upon  so- 
ciety by  industrial  advance. 

Effect  of  Social  Inertia  upon  Educational  Advance. — 
The  pressure  of  social  inertia  or  of  the  normal  institu- 
tional lag,  reacting  during  decades  of  unprecedented  in- 
dustrial progress,  has  caused  the  educational  ideals  and 
values  of  the  early  years  of  the  twentieth  century  to  be 


214.  THE   MODERN   HIGH    SCHOOL 

abnormally  out  of  harmony  with  the  requirements  of 
the  time  as  manifested  by  a  careful  study  of  the  social 
and  industrial  situation.  Any  investigation  of  the  high 
school  and  its  relations  to  the  industrial  life  of  the  com- 
munity should  begin  with  a  careful  survey.  While  not 
disregarding  the  lessons  of  the  past,  or  undervaluing  the 
methods  evolved  through  past  decades,  the  students  of 
to-day's  educational  problems  must  look  to  to-day's 
necessities.  They  should  be  progressive  without  being 
unduly  iconoclastic.  The  haphazard,  patched-up  con- 
dition of  the  American  school  curriculum,  the  contradic- 
tory decisions  of  the  courts  of  law,  the  widely  differing 
codes  of  morality,  and  the  dissimilar  standards  of  artistic 
criticism  of  the  present  era  are,  in  no  small  measure,  due 
to  the  antagonism  between  traditional  norms  and  stand- 
ards which  were  conceived  before  the  modern  industrial 
era  was  ushered  in,  and  those  norms  and  standards  which 
are  being  gradually  developed  under  the  stern  pressure 
of  to-day's  unique  economic  and  social  relationships. 
Both  reformers  and  reactionists  in  the  educational  world 
have  been  too  prone  to  appeal  to  authority,  class  preju- 
dice, superficial  manifestations,  and  vociferous  decla- 
mation. The  resultant  clamor  and  confusion  have  ob- 
scured the  real  situation  and  have  retarded  the  calm  and 
deliberate  investigation  of  social  forces. 

The  proper  function  of  an  organized  school  system,  as 
well  as  of  a  political  or  a  legal  system,  is  one  which  con- 
stantly changes  to  fit  the  shifting  social  and  industrial 
conditions  of  the  country  and  of  the  epoch.  Not  only 
has  the  division  of  functions  between  formal  or  school 
and  informal  or  out-of-school  education  changed,  but 
the  scope  of  school  education  has  been  immeasurably 
broadened  with  the  advancement  of  mankind  from  prim- 


RELATION   TO   THE   INDUSTRIAL   LIFE       215 

itive  to  civilized  modes  of  living,  working,  and  associat- 
ing. The  scope  of  school  education  has  been  broadened 
not  merely  because  of  the  growing  intricacy  and  com- 
plexity of  human  life  and  industry,  but  also  because  the 
educational  functions  of  other  institutions,  such  as  the 
home,  the  shop,  and  the  home  playground,  have  dimin- 
ished in  importance.  The  school  has  been  obliged  to  add 
duties  which  have  hitherto  been  performed  by  other 
institutions.  The  home  can  no  longer  give  the  youth 
adequate  training  in  manual  industry.  The  shop,  be- 
cause of  subdivided  labor  and  the  speeded-up  methods 
of  modern  industry,  offers  no  adequate  opportunity  for 
the  young  apprentice  thoroughly  to  learn  his  trade.  In 
the  process  of  adjustment  involved  in  passing  from 
small-scale  and  unsystematic  to  large-scale  and  routin- 
ized  industry,  social  and  political  institutions  including 
the  public  school  system  must  undergo  fundamental 
modifications.  The  scope  of  school  education  can  only 
be  definitely  and  scientifically  delimited  by  determining 
(a)  the  totality  or  content  of  education  in  a  given  epoch, 
and  (b)  the  portion  of  this  entire  field  which  can  be  ade- 
quately occupied  by  the  various  institutions  which  in- 
formally train  the  youth — the  home,  the  shop,  the  store, 
the  farm,  the  home  playground. 

Revolutionary  Changes  in  American  Life. — During  the 
last  century  industrial  and  scientific  progress  outran  all 
other  forms  of  development.  Rapid  industrial  progress 
wrought  enormous  and  far-reaching  changes  in  recent 
decades;  and,  inevitably,  as  has  been  indicated,  the  so- 
cial, political,  and  religious  life  of  society  is  profoundly 
affected.  The  young  and  crude  America,  possessing  an 
immense  amount  of  undeveloped  natural  resources  and 
free  land,  has  been  metamorphosed  within  a  few  decades 


216  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

of  bewildering  changes  into  the  America  of  large-scale 
industries,  big  railway  systems,  and  heaped-up  city  pop- 
ulations. The  American  people  are  facing  the  gigantic 
task  of  changing  their  ideals  and  standards  to  fit  an  en- 
vironment radically  different  from  that  which  surrounded 
the  American  of  a  generation  or  two  ago.  That  which  is 
desirable  in  an  undeveloped,  fertile,  and  expanding  coun- 
try may  become  a  hindrance  or  even  a  menace  in  a  well- 
developed  and  densely  populated  territory.  Educational 
concepts,  as  well  as  legal  or  political  ideals,  formed  when 
modern  industry  was  in  its  infancy,  when  it  was  differ- 
entiated into  small  and  isolated  units,  when  standard- 
ization, specialization,  and  world  markets  were  still  of 
the  future,  do  not  necessarily  square  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  modern  integrated  and  interrelated  indus- 
trial system.  The  complexity  and  intricacy  of  modern 
society  multiply  the  factors  in  the  educational  problem, 
and  cause  the  school  to  assume  a  more  dignified  and 
important  role  than  heretofore. 

The  introduction  of  laboratory  work  and  of  manual 
training  into  the  high  school  was  the  direct  and  visible 
consequence  of  important  and  revolutionary  changes  in 
American  industrial  methods  and  social  conditions. 
These  strangers  in  the  sphere  of  formal  education  found 
the  way  smoothed  because  of  the  rapid  progress  in 
industrial  development  which  was  produced  by  the 
Civil  War.  Trade,  business,  industry  did  not  bulk 
large  in  the  direct  determination  of  American  educa- 
tional methods  and  values  until  after  the  second  indus- 
trial revolution  which  followed  the  outbreak  of  domestic 
strife.  The  laboratory  and  the  manual  training  school 
are  not  content  with  mere  passive  receptivity  on  the 
part  of  the  student,  but  require  self-activity  and  con- 


RELATION   TO   THE   INDUSTRIAL   LIFE        217 

structive  work.  The  introduction  of  these  important 
educational  accessories  indicates  clearly,  to  the  thinking 
student  of  social  science  and  industrial  evolution,  that 
the  home,  and  probably  the  shop,  had  at  that  time  lost 
many  of  their  industrial  characteristics.  Division  of 
labor  and  large-scale  industry  were  becoming  predomi- 
nant in  the  manufacturing  world. 

The  Practical  Standard  of  Educational  Values. — Not 
only  do  ethical  and  educational  values  change  from  gen- 
eration to  generation  in  response  to  industrial  advance 
and  social  modifications,  but  different  classes  within  a 
given  community  often  disagree  fundamentally  in  regard 
to  any  customary  or  new  educational  project.  For  ex- 
ample, members  of  labor  organizations  will  make  de- 
mands upon  the  school  system  which  are  not  in  harmony 
with  those  made  by  manufacturers  and  merchants. 
And  the  view-point  of  the  teacher  does  not  harmonize 
at  all  points  with  either  that  of  the  unionist  or  the  em- 
ployer. It  must  be  frankly  admitted  that  even  the  most 
broad  generalizations  in  regard  to  the  scope,  content, 
and  aim  of  high  school  education  are  liable  to  meet 
with  opposition  because  of  fundamental  differences  of 
opinion  as  to  the  proper  function  of  our  public  school 
system. 

To-day  one  class  of  men  who  are  insistently  urging 
that  the  public  school  emphasize  industrial  and  trade  ed- 
ucation, do  so  because  they  wish  an  increased  supply  of 
workers  who  are  mere  workers  or  human  automatons. 
Many  influential  employers  in  the  United  States  are 
demanding  in  no  uncertain  tones  that  the  public  schools 
be  utilized  to  turn  out  narrowly  trained  industrial  work- 
ers who  may  become  passive  links  in  the  great  indus- 
trial mechanism  of  the  present  age.     The  business  man's 


218  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

ideal  of  a  worker,  barring  a  small  group  of  skilled  crafts- 
men, too  often  seems  to  be  that  of  a  plodding,  uncom- 
plaining, narrowly  trained  " human  ox."  Systematiza- 
tion  and  specialization  are  the  favorite  watchwords  of  a 
large  and  influential  class  of  employers;  and  the  appli- 
cation of  factory  methods  to  the  management  of  the 
school  is  demanded  in  the  alluring  name  of  efficiency  and 
economy.  Standardization,  not  individual  treatment, 
is  the  ideal  of  the  business  man.  The  manufacturers 
were  not  vitally  interested  in  manual  training  in  so  far  as 
it  was  introduced  as  a  pedagogical  necessity  in  order  that 
each  and  every  child  might  have  an  opportunity  to  use 
his  hands  in  some  form  of  constructive  work.  In  fact, 
the  manufacturers,  because  they  were  taxpayers,  were  in- 
clined to  oppose  manual  training  as  it  was  expensive  and 
increased  the  taxes.  The  purely  educational  value  of 
this  training  did  not  appeal  to  them  because  it  did  not 
directly  swell  profits  and  increase  dividends.  But  now, 
when  skilled  men  are  an  urgent  necessity,  the  proposi- 
tion is  judged  very  differently;  an  organized  effort  is 
being  made  by  captains  of  industry  to  convert  the  public 
schools,  or  certain  departments  of  the  educational  sys- 
tem, into  special  schools  for  apprentices  and  helpers. 

Organized  labor  opposes  any  open  or  veiled  attempt  to 
use  trade  or  vocational  schools  as  institutions  to  educate 
young  men  for  strike-breaking  or  wage-cutting  purposes. 
The  organized  workers  of  the  country  object  to  the  prac- 
tical standard  of  educational  values  favored  by  many 
employers;  they  desire  the  American  youth  to  become 
more  than  a  "human  ox."  They  also  insist  that  voca- 
tional education  shall  become  an  integral  part  of  the 
curriculum  of  our  public  schools;  and  they  are  strenuous 
in  their  opposition  to  anything  which  savors  of  the  con- 


RELATION   TO   THE  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE       219 

trol  or  supervision  of  vocational  instruction  by  the  em- 
ployers of  labor. 

The  Social  Standard  of  Educational  Values. — Another 
group  of  people  urge  that  the  public  school  system  should 
train  efficient  workers  who  are  also  thinking  men  and 
women  capable  of  enjoying  art,  literature,  and  leisure 
and  who  will  be  able  intelligently  to  consider  the  social 
and  political  problems  which  inevitably  arise  in  the 
twentieth  century.  It  is  demanded  that  a  well-rounded 
development  be  given  each  and  every  child  and  that  all 
students  be  prepared  for  useful  and  efficient  work  in  the 
community.  This  social  criterion  places  a  high  valua- 
tion upon  forces  and  policies  which  tend  to  break  down 
class  demarcation,  to  reduce  artificial  inequality,  and  to 
uplift  the  human  race  as  a  whole.  The  practical,  or  busi- 
ness man's,  and  the  social  standard  are  almost  diamet- 
rically opposed  to  each  other.  The  business  men  are, 
however,  quite  harmonious  in  regard  to  their  idea  as  to 
the  proper  scope  of  educational  work;  the  members  of 
the  group  advocating  the  social  criterion,  unfortunately, 
are  not. 

The  progressive  educators  of  the  nation,  those  who  are 
attempting  to  formulate  a  real  science  of  education  or 
pedagogy  which  will  enable  the  public  school  system  to 
become  an  important  directive  factor  in  social  progress, 
ought  definitely  to  place  themselves  on  record  in  favor  of 
the  social  standard  of  educational  values.  Industrial 
or  vocational  education  should  be  made  an  integral  part 
of  formal  education  in  an  epoch  or  in  a  nation  when  or 
where  industry  has  become  large-scale  and  subdivided, 
when  the  home  and  the  shop  are  no  longer  adequately 
fitted  to  impart  vocational  training.  But  since  large- 
scale  industry  and  subdivided  labor  are  necessarily  only 


220  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

present  in  a  period  of  world  markets  and  world  inter- 
course, vocational  training  must  be  indissolubly  linked 
with  other  forms  of  training  which  will  broaden  the  out- 
look of  the  student,  winch  will  make  of  him  a  citizen  as 
well  as  an  efficient  worker  with  hand  or  brain.  The  aim 
of  modern  education  should  be,  if  the  aim  be  anything 
more  than  the  creation  of  a  nicely  articulated  industrial 
system,  to  produce  men,  not  human  machines.  The 
school,  according  to  a  broad  and  reasonable  social  con- 
cept of  its  functions,  should  send  from  its  doors  healthy, 
efficient,  and  well-trained  men  and  women  who  possess 
characteristics  which  will  enable  them  to  live  as  well  as 
to  make  a  living. 

The  Function  of  the  Modern  High  School.— The  social 
standard  of  educational  values  requires  high  school  edu- 
cation to  be  vocational  and  democratic  in  character.  The 
high  school  ought  to  reach  workers  as  well  as  non-work- 
ers— hence,  it  should  be  open  late  in  the  afternoon  and 
in  the  evening  as  well  as  in  the  forenoon  and  early  after- 
noon. In  short,  the  high  school  should  reach  a  great 
variety  of  people  and  give  training  in  citizenship  as  well 
as  in  technical  subjects.  It  should  have  a  far  wider  mis- 
sion than  to  be  a  preparatory  school  for  the  college. 

That  a  large  number  of  boys  and  girls  leave  school 
soon  after  their  fourteenth  birthday  is  a  well-known  and 
portentous  fact.  A  large  percentage  of  this  great  horde 
of  children  enter  what  are  commonly  called  the  unskilled 
occupations.  The  present  ever  bulks  large  in  the  eyes 
of  the  impatient  youth,  and  too  often  he  seeks  the  job 
which  temporarily  offers  the  best  wages  but  which  gives 
little  or  no  promise  of  future  advancement.  These  ne- 
cessitous or  misguided  young  people  are  the  workers  who 
become  in  due  time  the  "perpetual  helpers,"  the  fre- 


RELATION   TO   THE   INDUSTRIAL   LIFE        221 

quenters  of  employment  agencies,  the  flotsam  and  jetsam 
of  the  industrial  world.  These  are  the  young  men  and 
young  women  to  whom  our  public  school  system  is  reach- 
ing no  helping  hand. 

It  is  highly  important  that  students  of  educational 
problems  recognize  that  the  modern  high  school  should 
stop  the  drift  into  "blind-alley"  occupations  or,  at  least, 
that  it  should  furnish  a  minimum  of  training  to  those 
who  are  already  in  such  occupations,  for  the  purpose  of 
enabling  them  sooner  or  later  to  increase  their  earning 
power  and  to  enlarge  their  ideas  of  life  and  its  possibili- 
ties. Into  appropriate  classes  of  the  continuation  work 
of  the  high  school  should  go  all  young  workers  up  to  their 
eighteenth  or  at  least  their  sixteenth  birthday.  Em- 
ployers should  be  required,  as  in  Germany  and  Wisconsin, 
to  allow  their  young  employees  to  attend  the  compul- 
sory continuation  high  school.  Why  should  the  super- 
vision which  the  state  exercises  over  the  young  cease  as 
soon  as  the  child  becomes  a  wage  earner?  Industrial 
advance  and  racial  betterment  demand  that  the  youth 
of  the  land  be  saved  from  the  evil  effects  of  the  blind- 
alley  occupations  and  be  lifted  out  of  the  status  of  per- 
petual helpers. 

If  the  high  school  is  to  be  called  upon  to  fit  young  men 
and  young  women  for  positions  in  factories,  stores,  and 
offices,  it  is  pertinent  that  consideration  be  given  to  the 
conditions  in  industry.  Will  factory  work,  for  example, 
tend  to  tear  down  that  which  the  school  tends  to  build 
up?  Undoubtedly,  American  educators  are  warranted 
in  demanding  not  only  vocational  training  but  also  an 
improvement  in  the  working  conditions  in  the  establish- 
ments into  which  the  youth  of  the  country  go.  Public 
school  vocational  training  and  improvement  in  the  work- 


222  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ing  environment  of  the  young  wage  earners  of  the  nation 
should  go  hand  in  hand. 

Practical  Proposals. — It  has  been  pointed  out  that 
educational  theory  is  subject  to  the  retardation  pro- 
duced by  institutional  inertia;  and,  furthermore,  educa- 
tional practice  always  lags  behind  our  belated  educational 
theories.  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  this  double  retarda- 
tion, in  recent  years  certain  practical  steps  have  been 
proposed  or  taken  which  give  promise  of  the  opening  of 
a  new  era  in  high  school  education.  A  few  of  the  most 
important  proposals  for  placing  the  high  school  in  touch 
with  the  industrial  life  of  the  community  will  be  briefly 
summarized.  These  are  of  two  general  types:  the  first 
provides  for  industrial  or  vocational  training  for  boys 
and  girls  who  have  not  yet  become  wage  earners;  the 
second  adds  continuation  courses  for  young  wage  earners. 

As  examples  of  the  first  type  may  be  mentioned  the 
Cleveland  Technical  High  School  and  the  Washington 
Irving  High  School  of  New  York  City.  The  former  has 
for  its  distinct  purpose  the  preparation  of  "its  pupils  for 
industrial  leadership."  The  school  is  open  to  both  boys 
and  girls.  The  course  is  four  years  in  length.  After  two 
years  devoted  to  manual  training  and  "general  industrial 
intelligence,"  the  student  selects  a  trade  in  which  he 
specializes  during  the  remaining  two  years.  The  English, 
mathematics,  science,  and  other  studies  are  closely  re- 
lated to  the  shop  problems  confronting  the  students. 
The  school  is  in  session  forty-eight  weeks  in  the  year. 
Evening  classes  for  workers  are  also  conducted.  The 
Washington  Irving  High  School  for  girls  departs  very 
far  from  the  traditional  ideal  of  secondary  education. 
The  teachers  of  the  school  write:  "We  have  kitchens, 
bedrooms,  laundries,  nurseries,  and  parlors  for  the  train- 


RELATION   TO  THE  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE       223 

ing  of  every  girl  in  housewifery.  We  have  banks,  stores, 
offices,  studios,  dressmaking  establishments,  and  tele- 
phones for  the  preparation  of  young  business  women. 
We  have  the  staples  of  culture:  the  languages,  literature, 
sciences,  and  mathematics  for  the  training  of  minds, 
preparing  for  teachers'  schools  and  colleges." 

The  Co-operative  Plan. — The  engineering  department 
of  the  University  of  Cincinnati  has  for  several  years 
utilized  a  system  of  co-operation  with  certain  manufac- 
turing establishments  in  the  city.  The  public  schools 
of  Fitchburg,  Mass.,  have  also  tried  a  similar  plan.  In 
the  latter  city,  the  co-operative  plan  "is  an  arrange- 
ment between  the  high  school  authorities  and  the  local 
manufacturers  of  metal  machinery,  saws,  engines,  pumps, 
and  condensers,  and  other  metal  products."  The  student 
workers  are  divided  into  two  sections.  For  a  week  one 
section  works  in  the  shops  while  the  other  section  is  in 
the  classroom;  the  following  week,  the  shop  section  goes 
into  the  classroom,  and  the  other  section  into  the  shop. 
In  this  manner,  the  shop  and  the  school  have  each  a  full 
quota.  The  student  worker  is  paid  for  his  services  in 
the  shop;  he  is  an  employee  of  the  company,  working 
half  time.  It  is  not  intended  that  students  shall  be 
drawn  from  the  regular  high  school  courses.  This  co- 
operative plan  enables  many  students  to  receive  valu- 
able training,  and  to  earn  half  pay  at  the  same  time. 
It  is  a  unique  plan  for  uniting  school  training  and  actual 
shop  experience,  for  combining  in  one  person  the  student 
and  the  wage  earner. 

The  theory  underlying  this  plan  is  well  illustrated  by 
the  following  quotation  from  an  article  written  by  Dean 
Herman  Schneider,  of  the  University  of  Cincinnati: 
"The  school  does  not  attempt  to  teach  anything  concern- 


224  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ing  the  practical  side  of  the  work.  It  aims,  however,  to 
teach  the  theory  underlying  the  work,  to  teach  the  intent 
of  the  work,  to  give  such  training  in  mathematics  and 
elementary  sciences  as  will  enable  the  apprentice  to 
become  more  highly  efficient,  and  to  give  such  cultural 
subjects  as  will  tend  to  make  him  a  more  intelligent  civic 
unit  In  other  words,  the  course  has  in  mind  both  the 
thing  the  apprentice  is  to  do  and  the  man  he  is  to  be." 

Such  schools  can,  of  course,  only  be  successful  in  com- 
munities in  which  manufacturers  are  willing  to  co-oper- 
ate; and  only  a  portion  of  those  desiring  or  needing  voca- 
tional training  are  likely  to  be  thus  accommodated.  The 
limit  is  fixed  by  the  will  and  needs  of  the  employers,  not 
by  the  number  or  the  demands  of  the  youth  of  the  city 
or  locality.  The  co-operative  plan  is  not  looked  upon 
favorably  by  organized  labor  since  it  places  "the  veto 
power  over  the  boy's  right  to  public  industrial  educa- 
tion ...  in  the  hands  of  the  manufacturer."  The  em- 
ployer may  under  this  plan  find  it  easy  to  dictate  the 
educational  policy  of  the  public  school.  No  plan  for 
industrial  training  is  adequate  which  merely  aims  to 
supply  the  employers'  need  of  skilled  workers.  The 
school  ought  not  to  be  reduced  to  the  status  of  a  shop 
adjunct. 

The  shop  is  not  primarily  an  educational  institution; 
and  the  plans  of  the  foreman  may  often  run  counter  to 
the  needs  of  the  youth  in  the  shop.  If  the  student 
worker  or  apprentice  is  to  become  skilled  in  more  than 
one  simple  and  minute  class  of  work,  the  learner  must  be 
transferred  from  machine  to  machine,  and  from  depart- 
ment to  department.  From  an  educational  view-point, 
the  student  worker  ought  to  be  transferred  to  some  new 
kind  or  class  of  work  as  soon  as  he  becomes  proficient  at 


RELATION  TO  THE  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE       225 

a  particular  job ;  but  immediate  considerations  of  profits 
and  the  personal  interests  of  the  foreman  lead  the  latter 
to  keep  a  boy  at  one  class  of  work  month  after  month 
and  year  after  year.  In  short,  profits  and  pedagogy  con- 
flict in  the  shop.  On  the  other  hand,  the  school  authori- 
ties are  not  obliged  to  provide  an  expensive  shop  equip- 
ment and  to  hire  expensive  teachers  of  trades.  The 
students  work  under  actual  shop  conditions  and  make 
goods  for  the  market;  and  wages  are  paid  to  the 
student  workers  for  the  time  spent  in  the  shop. 

The  Public  Works  High  School. — A  novel  modifica- 
tion of  the  co-operative  plan  has  been  proposed  by  Mr. 
William  Thum.  The  employing  firm  is  now  the  munici- 
pality, and  the  practical  work  is  to  be  performed  in  con- 
nection with  some  municipal  plant,  such  as  water,  gas, 
electric  light,  parks,  etc.  "The  public  has  municipal 
work  to  do,  and  the  greater  part  of  this  work  could  be 
done  by  clear-headed  boys  and  young  men  from  sixteen 
to  twenty  years  of  age  who  are  under  the  supervision  of 
the  public  works  high  school."  Two  shifts  could  be 
used.  One  group  would  work  in  the  morning  and  go 
into  the  high  school  in  the  afternoon;  the  other  group 
would  reverse  its  programme.  Six  to  eight  years  would 
probably  be  required  to  complete  the  course  in  the  high 
school.  Students  would  be  enabled  to  earn  sufficient  to 
pay  their  personal  expenses,  and  at  the  same  time  they 
could  learn  the  basic  principles  of  a  trade  in  addition  to 
the  cultural  training  usually  given  in  the  high  school. 
Men  having  six  to  eight  years  of  such  experience  ought 
to  be  especially  valuable  in  the  service  of  the  munici- 
pality. It  has  been  estimated  that  about  one  in  every 
ninety  self-supporting  young  people  of  high  school  age 
are  attending  high  school,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand, 


226  THE  MODERN  HIGH  SCHOOL 

over  one  half  of  those  supported  by  parents  attend. 
Public  works  high  schools  would  furnish  work  for  self- 
supporting  students,  and  thus  give  all  classes  of  young 
people  a  chance  to  attend  high  school. 

Wisconsin's  System  of  Industrial  Education. — The 
State  of  Wisconsin  has  provided  for  a  compulsory  sys- 
tem of  continuation  schools.  According  to  the  pro- 
visions of  a  law  passed  in  191 1,  in  every  city  or  town  of 
over  five  thousand  inhabitants  continuation  or  evening 
schools  must  be  established.  These  schools  are  to  be 
under  the  control  of  a  local  board  of  industrial  education 
consisting  of  five  members— the  superintendent  of  schools 
and  four  others,  two  employers  and  two  employees,  to 
be  appointed  by  the  local  board  of  education.  Continu- 
ation schools  may  also  be  established  in  smaller  towns. 
The  law  requires  wage-earning  boys  and  girls  between  the 
ages  of  fourteen  and  sixteen  years,  and  apprentices  over 
sixteen,  to  attend  the  continuation  school  for  at  least 
five  hours  per  week  for  six  months  each  year.  All  work- 
ing permits  granted  to  children  fourteen  to  sixteen  years 
of  age  require  attendance  in  the  continuation  school. 
Employers  are  allowed  to  employ  children  under  sixteen 
fo'r  not  more  than  fifty-five  hours  per  week,  but  at  least 
five  out  of  the  fifty-five  hours  must  be  utilized  for  school 
attendance.  The  continuation  schools  are  maintained 
by  local  taxation  and  State  aid.  The  schools  are  sub- 
ject to  the  supervision  of  a  State  board  of  industrial 
education.  In  the  words  of  Professor  Commons,  "The 
State  of  Wisconsin,  at  last,  has  adopted  a  system  of 
continuation  schools  that  is  planned  .  .  .  first,  to  make 
the  intellectual  and  artistic  side  of  industry  reach  every 
boy  and  girl  instead  of  a  few  apprentices;  and,  second,  to 
make  the  employer  and  the  schoolmaster  co-operate  with 


RELATION   TO   THE  INDUSTRIAL   LIFE       227 

and  supplement  each  other  instead  of  duplicating  and 
controverting  each  other." 

Cooley's  Plan. — Mr.  Edwin  G.  Cooley,  ex-superin- 
tendent of  schools  of  Chicago,  has  devised  a  system  of 
vocational  training  which  he  is  endeavoring  to  have 
adopted  in  Illinois.  The  plan  is  similar  to  Wisconsin's 
and  is  undoubtedly  modeled  in  certain  respects  after  the 
German  system  of  continuation  schools.  It  is  urged  that 
the  existing  system  of  public  schools  cannot  adequately 
provide  vocational  training  and  a  separate  system  of 
continuation  or  vocational  schools  is  recommended. 
The  vocational  schools  are  not  to  be  controlled  by  the 
ordinary  boards  of  education  but  by  local  boards  of 
vocational  training.  A  special  tax  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  vocational  schools  is  advocated.  "  Separate 
schools  are  necessary  whose  equipment,  corps  of  teachers, 
and  boards  of  administration  must  be  in  the  closest  possi- 
ble relation  to  the  occupations.  In  such  schools  the  ap- 
plications of  general  education  to  vocational  work  can  be 
made  only  by  men  who  know  the  vocations."  The  voca- 
tional schools  are  not  intended  to  be  substitutes  for  the 
present  forms  of  schools  but  merely  to  supplement  their 
work.  Mr.  Cooley  calls  attention  to  the  necessity  for 
training  for  social  service  and  citizenship  as  well  as  for  a 
vocation.  But,  it  may  be  asked,  is  it  not  to  be  expected 
that  special  vocational  schools  controlled  by  separate 
boards  and  taught  by  special  teachers  will  undervalue 
all  kinds  of  training  except  the  purely  vocational?  Is 
there  not  great  danger  that  such  an  isolated  system  di- 
rected by  specialist  teachers  will  lead  to  narrow  speciali- 
zation in  purely  vocational  matters? 

Friends  of  the  Wisconsin  system  and  of  Cooley's  plan 
insist,  however,  that  sooner  or  later  the  separate  system 


228  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

of  administration  will  prevail.  "In  Europe  the  school- 
men fought  this  system  bitterly  for  years,  but  after  they 
had  demonstrated  their  utter  inability  to  keep  the  aims 
of  specialized  vocational  training  from  the  aims  of  gen- 
eral academic  training  the  systems  were  gradually  but 
surely  divorced  and  industrial  education  was  put  under 
the  control  of  separate  boards."  Germany's  experience 
is,  however,  not  necessarily  conclusive  for  democratic 
America.  It  might  not  be  amiss  to  suggest  a  possible 
compromise.  The  continuation  schools  might  be  left 
under  the  control  of  the  public  school  authorities,  but 
special  advisory  boards,  consisting  of  employers  and 
employees,  might  be  appointed.  Any  movement  tend- 
ing to  break  the  public  school  system  into  specially  con- 
trolled units  should  be  very  carefully  scrutinized  by  the 
schoolmen  and  the  wage  earners  of  the  nation. 


PART  II 

THE  MORE  INTIMATE  SPECIALIZED  RE- 
LATIONSHIPS OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  WORK 

CHAPTER  VIII 

SOCIALIZED  HIGH  SCHOOL  CURRICULUMS  AND  COURSES 
OF  STUDY 

Colin  A.  Scott,  Ph.D. 

HEAD    OF    DEPARTMENT    OF    PSYCHOLOGY,    BOSTON    NORMAL    SCHOOL 

Historical  Beginnings. — There  is  perhaps  nothing  that 
characterizes  the  high  school  of  the  present  day  more 
than  the  way  in  which  it  is  responding  to  wide-spread 
social  influences  of  various  kinds.  In  this  respect  it 
shows  its  vitality  and  proclaims  the  fact  that  although 
descended  from  the  Renaissance  and  therefore  old 
enough  in  tradition  to  run  the  danger  of  becoming 
stiff,  it  still  retains  the  original  spirit  of  reconstruction 
which  characterized  its  inception  at  that  time.  Then 
the  new  studies  were  the  classics  and  all  that  went  with 
them — a  new  appreciation  for  the  beauty  and  joy  of  life, 
for  the  felicities  of  language  and  f6r  the  free  democratic 
life  of  Greece  and  Rome.  These  were  life  values  that  in 
the  fifteenth  century  could  not  be  approached  directly. 
They  were  offensive  to  the  piety  of  the  middle  age  and 
even  to  its  art  and  government.     For  although  there  was 

229 


230  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

beautiful  art  in  the  middle  age  it  had  become  narrow 
because  confined  too  closely  to  religious  needs.  There 
was  also  government  approaching  in  some  favored  spots 
to  the  democratic,  but  freedom  was,  on  the  whole,  an 
exception.     And  there  was  no  native  literature  whatever. 

The  mind  of  the  time  took  the  best  and  most  practical 
way  of  approaching  these  ideas.  It  unconsciously  turned 
to  the  days  when  they  flourished  and  to  the  monuments 
they  had  left  behind.  It  absorbed  the  spirit  of  these 
times  not  in  order  to  venerate  it  at  a  distance,  but  in 
order  to  put  that  spirit  into  the  life  of  every  day. 

We  have  been  at  work  at  this  ever  since,  but  as  time 
has  gone  on  the  logical  march  of  events  has  brought  us 
to  a  place  where  the  classics  can  no  longer  play  the  role 
for  which  they  were  instituted.  We  have  a  literature, 
we  have  the  solid  beginnings  of  a  free  government,  we 
have  a  new  art,  new  sciences,  and  new  industries.  We  no 
longer  need  the  indirect  approach.  We  are  in  a  position 
to  attack  life  directly. 

Social  Pressure  on  the  High  School. — Social  pressure 
makes  this  felt  in  the  high  school.  The  young  people 
that  fill  our  classrooms  are  bent  upon  living.  It  is  here 
and  now  for  them.  Their  parents  behind  them  and  the 
community  as  a  whole  are  equally  convinced.  What 
can  the  high  school  do  to  prepare  for  a  life  or  to  give  an 
opportunity  itself  for  living  that  shall  raise  the  standard 
of  life  and  improve  the  means  for  gratifying  it  on  the 
part  of  those  who  attend?  This  is  the  question  at  the 
bottom  of  the  social  pressure  on  the  high  school  of 
to-day. 

At  the  present  stage  "courses  of  study"  are  the  ob- 
jective points.  It  is  assumed  that  " courses  of  study" 
form  the  essential  features  of  a  high  school  and  that  to 


SOCIALIZED    HIGH   SCHOOL   CURRICULUMS     231 

change  these  would  be  to  change  all.  It  is,  I  think,  also 
generally  assumed  that  a  course  of  study  is  something 
made  by  a  teacher  or  by  one  set  over  him  and  that  it 
represents  a  certain  amount  of  knowledge  regarded  as 
valuable  for  some  reason  by  the  teacher  or  superinten- 
dent. It  is  not  expected,  in  most  of  the  high  schools,  to 
be  regarded  as  valuable  by  the  pupils  before  they  begin. 
It  is  sometimes  not  regarded  as  valuable  after  they  get 
through.  It  is  not  meant  by  this  that  such  a  course  of 
study  need  be  "  hard  and  fast."  It  may  be  changed  from 
year  to  year.  It  may  be  changed  in  some  details  within 
the  year  itself.  Such  changes,  I  think,  represent  what 
is  called  "elasticity."  The  essential  feature  is  that  the 
elastic  part  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  course  is  made  by 
the  teacher  or  his  superior  in  office. 

This  idea  of  the  course  of  study  is  certainly  a  time- 
honored  one.  It  was  in  existence  in  the  teaching  insti- 
tutions of  the  middle  ages.  The  universities  of  that  time, 
which  usually  had  a  contingent  of  boys  as  young  as  ten, 
regarded  truth  as  something  authoritatively  handed 
down.  The  root  and  kernel  of  their  effort  was  to  pre- 
pare the  pupil  for  the  next  world  or  to  prepare  him  to 
prepare  others  for  that  period  of  his  life.  The  Renais- 
sance teachers  also  dealt  through  the  classics  with  an- 
other life  and  another  world,  although  this  time  in  the 
past  and  upon  the  earth. 

Superior  Authority  and  the  Course  of  Study.— Such 
courses  of  study  must  necessarily  be  made  and  engineered 
by  the  force  of  superior  authority.  The  pupil  must  be 
instructed  rather  than  educated.  There  is  not  enough 
in  his  current  daily  life,  in  the  most  of  cases  at  least,  to 
form  proliferating  areas,  capable  of  growing  by  their  own 
initiative.     In  the  case  of  the  theologically  dominated 


232  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

courses  it  was  assumed  that  the  natural  man  must  be 
made  over  and  this  by  the  imposition  of  standards  which 
he  would  not  be  capable  of  conceiving  for  himself.  In 
the  case  of  the  classics  an  artificial  environment  was 
necessary  for  success.  Instruction  was  given  in  Latin, 
and  in  many  places  pupils  were  fined  or  punished  in  other 
ways  who  used  the  vernacular  for  communication.  For 
the  purpose  in  mind  these  practices  were  evidences  of 
efficiency,  since  an  indirect  approach  to  life  was  necessary. 

To  find  teachers  independent  of  the  authoritative 
course  of  study  one  must  go  back  to  Socrates  or  to 
Jesus.  The  writings  of  Plato  give  us,  superficially  looked 
at,  the  impression  that  the  pupils  did  not  have  much  to 
say  about  the  course  of  thought  through  which  Socrates 
travelled.  They  were  always  worsted  in  an  argument, 
and  the  questions  of  the  teacher  were  loaded  from  the 
beginning.  But  a  very  little  reflection  shows  us  that  if 
Socrates  actually  did  converse  with  any  one  who  came, 
on  the  street  corners  and  other  public  places,  their  ques- 
tions and  their  natural  inquiries,  rather  than  his,  must 
have  formed  the  solid  woof  for  the  fine-spun  warp  of  the 
teacher.  The  pupils,  moreover,  were  always  free  to 
leave  at  any  moment.  Not  much  of  the  authoritative 
course  of  study  in  this. 

As  for  Jesus,  His  teaching,  often  communicated,  in  acts 
as  well  as  words,  was  continually  dovetailed  into  the 
people's  present  need.  He  answered  the  questions  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees.  He  spoke  about  and  to  the  as- 
pirations of  Israel,  and  He  met  the  awakening  interest 
of  His  disciples  when  and  where  He  found  it.  His  was  a 
direct  rather  than  an  indirect  approach  to  life. 

Change  in  Courses  of  Study. — But  the  closer  one  gets 
back  to  the  great  teachers  the  more  danger  one  runs  in 


SOCIALIZED   HIGH   SCHOOL   CURRICULUMS    233 

seeming  far-fetched  and  foreign  to  many  high  school 
teachers  of  to-day  still  in  the  shadow  of  the  middle-age 
and  classical  idea  of  the  course  of  study.  And  yet  the 
social  pressure  surrounding  and  moulding  the  present 
high  school  is  slowly  changing  its  attitude  toward  this 
time-honored  convention.  It  is  demanding  a  direct  ap- 
proach to  life.  It  is  undermining  and  setting  aside  the 
old-fashioned  courses  of  study  and  putting  in  their  place 
manual  training,  domestic  sciences,  various  applica- 
tions of  art,  practical  journalism,  stenography,  business 
courses,  agriculture,  architecture  and  building,  econom- 
ics and  the  study  of  efficiency,  practical  hygiene,  and 
many  other  modifications  of  the  demand  for  immediate 
equipment  for  the  business  of  life.  It  is  true  that  as 
these  new  studies  come  into  the  high  school  they  are 
offered  as  courses  made  by  the  teacher  or  those  in  au- 
thority over  him.  The  old  form  tends  to  persist,  and 
there  are  many  teachers  still  who  emphasize  the  authori- 
tative form  and  teach  joints  in  wood  as  if  they  were  para- 
digms in  Latin.  But  just  because  these  subjects  grow 
out  of  the  current  life  of  the  time  and  are  already  grasped 
by  the  pupils  in  their  main  outline  and  significance,  they 
are  continually  tending  to  run  beyond  the  form  pre- 
destined by  the  teachers'  course  of  study.  What  the 
pupils  think  they  are  able  to  do,  what  they  show  a  natu- 
ral willingness  to  attack  and  a  disposition  to  hang  on  to, 
come  to  represent  a  great  part  of  what  is  actually  done 
in  the  classroom.  When  a  recent  superintendent  of 
Wellesley  asks  the  boys  in  the  manual  training  classes  to 
bring  to  school  the  screens  and  shutters  that  need  repair- 
ing at  home,  or  when  Superintendent  Alderman,  of  Ore- 
gon, gives  school  credit  for  making  beds,  washing  dishes, 
feeding  pigs,  and  other  home  work,  it  is  evident  that  the 


234  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

attitude  of  the  authoritative  course  of  study  is  not  pre- 
venting a  school  interest  in  the  lives  of  the  children  as 
they  actually  exist. 

In  such  cases  as  these  it  is,  of  course,  part  of  the  duty 
of  the  school  to  see  that  the  work  done  is  not  left  un- 
touched by  the  actual  knowledge  as  well  as  the  ethical 
influence  of  the  school.  Merely  to  give  credit  for  feeding 
pigs  as  they  have  always  been  fed  is  no  great  part  of 
education.  The  kind  of  food,  its  nutritive  value,  and  its 
results  in  the  proper  fattening  of  the  animal,  graphs 
showing  its  increase  in  weight,  its  economic  value  in  rela- 
tion to  the  market  of  this  locality  and  season  or  that  are 
indications  of  only  a  few  of  the  problems  involving  the 
higher  skill  and  knowledge  which  the  socially  service- 
able high  school  exists  to  impart.  That  this  skill  and 
knowledge  are  concentrated  for  one  pupil  upon  a  problem 
that  lies  near  to  him  and  which,  preferably,  he  has  chosen 
for  himself  makes  such  knowledge  much  more  vital  and 
no  less  truly  universal. 

In  some  schools  arrangements  are  made  so  that  the 
pupils  have  control  of  a  piece  of  land,  and  under  the 
direction  of  the  school  crops  are  cultivated  and  the  suc- 
cess of  the  different  pupils  compared.  Clubs  are  formed 
for  the  exhibition  of  products  and  prizes  given  to  the 
best.  The  interest  of  the  whole  community  is  engaged, 
picnics  and  excursions  are  organized  which  have  for  their 
central  interest  the  work  of  the  school.  This  does  not 
confine  itself  to  the  high  school  but  runs  out  into  the 
upper  grades  of  the  elementary  school. 

In  Berlin,  New  Hampshire,  the  high  school  has  for 
some  years  thrown  part  of  the  work  formerly  directly 
under  the  school  board  into  the  hands  of  the  pupils. 
The  care  of  grounds  and  buildings,  e.  g.,  has  been  so 


SOCIALIZED   HIGH   SCHOOL   CURRICULUMS    235 

treated  with  the  interesting  result  that  the  work  was 
done  more  efficiently  and  at  a  considerable  saving  in 
cost.  The  keeping  of  accounts  and  the  actual  financial 
management  of  the  enterprise  by  the  pupils  were  the 
means  not  only  of  teaching  the  knowledge  required  but 
gave  an  opportunity  for  education  in  responsibility  and 
co-operation. 

The  Los  Angeles  High  School. — The  high  school  of 
Los  Angeles,  California,  affords  an  interesting  instance 
of  how  social  pressure  is  modifying  courses  of  study  and 
leading  the  school  to  prepare  more  directly  for  the  busi- 
ness of  life.  Among  other  things  the  high  school  pupils 
here,  under  the  guidance  of  their  teachers,  have  made  the 
designs  for,  contracted  for,  and  controlled  the  building 
of  several  of  the  new  school  buildings  in  that  city.  The 
superintendent  of  schools  asserts  that  these  buildings  are 
among  the  best  that  the  Los  Angeles  school  board  owns. 
It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  when  real  work  of  this 
kind  is  going  on  in  a  school  it  tends  to  transform  the 
attitude  of  the  pupils  toward  all  of  their  work.  The 
high  degree  of  self-poise  and  organized  responsibility  to 
be  found  in  this  school  are  shown  by  a  test  made  some 
months  ago.  The  superintendent  wondered  whether 
the  pupils  could  run  the  school  themselves  for  a  day. 
It  was  a  new  idea  to  the  pupils  and  they  did  not  seize 
the  opportunity  rashly.  But  after  some  time  and  due 
discussion  among  themselves  they  said  they  would  like 
to  try  it.  They  named  their  day  and  no  teacher  ap- 
peared, but  the  classes  went  on  as  usual.  Later  in  the 
day  the  manual  training  teacher  got  nervous  thinking  of 
the  tools  and  valuable  plant  without  his  care  and  over- 
sight. He  "sneaked"  in  but  found  everything  running 
in  perfect  order  and  was  rather  ashamed  he  had  come. 


236  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

This  is,  of  course,  nothing  but  a  test  and  does  not 
indicate  that  teachers  are  useless.  It  rather  shows  the 
great  power  of  the  teachers  of  this  school,  but*  further 
than  this,  it  shows  the  value  of  work  which  grows  up  out 
of  the  pupil's  own  environment  and  of  which  he  can 
have,  when  he  starts  upon  it,  some  notion  of  its  purpose 
and  import.  He  is  then  in  a  position  to  help  control 
and  guide  its  progress  and,  instead  of  submitting  pas- 
sively to  the  teacher-made  course  of  study,  is  able  to 
make  a  part  of  it  for  himself. 

The  detail  of  the  courses  of  study  dealing  directly  with 
practical  activities  and  having  a  considerable  vocational 
interest  has  already  been  dealt  with  in  other  chapters  of 
this  book.  The  principles  that  lie  back  of  these  changes 
are  what  most  interest  us  at  present.  These  principles 
come  out  in  other  subjects  than  those  of  a  specifically 
vocational  nature. 

Jhe  Practical  Arts  High  School.— The  Practical  Arts 
High  School  for  Girls,  of  Boston,  is  an  instance  of  a  school 
which  has  been  newly  established  in  obedience  to  social 
needs.  It  has  courses  in  millinery,  in  dressmaking  and 
domestic  science,  and  a  department  of  vocational  gui- 
dance which  takes  charge  of  placing  graduates  in  suita- 
ble positions  and  of  following  them  up  for  several  years 
after  they  have  left  the  school.  The  art  department 
is  naturally  devoted  to  special  applications  in  these 
branches,  and  one  sees  on  the  walls  of  the  studio  studies 
of  garments,  fashion-plates,  and  designs  for  hats,  as  well' 
as  the  more  elementary  exercises  in  form  and  color. 
The  chemistry  and  physics  departments  put  in  the  fore- 
ground the  science  of  daily  life.  The  gas  service,  the 
heating  plant,  the  water,  and  sewage  conveniences,  to- 
gether with  the  chemistry  of  food  form  the  main  body  of 


SOCIALIZED   HIGH   SCHOOL   CURRICULUMS    237 

the  work.  Meanwhile,  history  and  English  literature 
are  two  subjects  required  of  every  pupil.  Since  these 
subjects  are  not  vocational,  the  question  arises  to  what 
extent  are  they  modified  by  the  general  aim  of  the 
school. 

It  is  felt  by  the  Department  of  History,  at  least,  that 
there  is  danger  of  too  narrow  a  specialization.  The 
effort  is  not  made  to  find  just  that  kind  of  history  which 
would  have  vocational  value  for  a  dressmaker  or  a  mil- 
liner. There  is  no  concentration  on  the  history  of  trade 
movements  to  the  neglect  of  the  broader  field,  nor  are 
those  features  of  our  present  life  which  have  descended 
to  us  from  the  past  and  thus  proved  their  survival  value 
made  the  exclusive  starting-point  of  the  work.  On  the 
contrary,  history  is  taught  as  history  and  on  the  assump- 
tion that  there  is  a  real  life  value  here  for  all  pupils 
of  any  kind.  People  have  other  vital  interests  besides 
earning  their  bread,  and  one  learns  from  the  story  of  the 
past  life  of  civilization  how  to  become  civilized  to-day. 

It  would  seem  at  first  sight  that  such  a  view  of  the 
course  marked  the  limits  of  the  present  social  demands 
rather  than  their  fruition,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  these  social  demands  have  a  vague  background  and, 
although  the  clearest  insistence  is  along  vocational  lines, 
the  public  and  the  pupils  themselves  really  wish  more 
than  this.  They  are  not  unresponsive  to  the  larger  life 
of  the  race.  This  would  mean  that  the  course  is  taken 
mainly  for  present  interest.  If  not  socially  serviceable 
for  a  vocation,  it  may  yet  be  serviceable  as  a  mental 
nourishment  for  the  social  organism  of  the  school  (or 
class)  itself.  There  is  no  objective  proof,  however,  that 
the  pupils,  in  a  course  made  almost  wholly  or  altogether 
by  the  teacher,  feel  the  impulse  to  use  their  knowledge 


238  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

socially  or  to  extend  it  on  their  own  account.  It  is  pos- 
sible and  even  probable  that  a  few  will  acquire  an  inter- 
est which  they  will  continue  to  gratify  when  they  leave 
the  school.  But  this  is  not  making  it  socially  service- 
able in  the  school  itself.  It  is  not  the  same  thing  as  giv- 
ing to  the  pupils  as  large  a  share  as  they  are  able  to 
handle  in  producing  and  directing  the  course  itself.  But 
it  is  only  when  this  is  done  that  the  teacher  can  regard 
the  work  as  a  training  in  social  serviceableness  or  can 
even  be  quite  sure  that  it  grows  out  of  the  needs  of  the 
majority  of  the  pupils  with  that  vitality  which  will  in- 
sure this  study  or  its  results  a  permanent  place  in  their 
future  life. 

The  Aim  of  Social  Pressure. — The  result  aimed  at, 
consciously  or  not,  by  the  social  pressure  that  is  modify- 
ing the  courses  of  study  in  the  high  school  is  the  same 
whether  these  courses  are  mainly  vocational  or,  like  his- 
tory, prepare  for  life  in  a  larger  sense.  The  public  mani- 
fests this  aim  in  various  ways.  It  criticises  and  com- 
plains of  the  product  that  is  turned  out  of  the  high  school. 
It  establishes  new  kinds  of  schools  and  new  courses  in 
the  older  schools.  These  methods  of  exerting  its  pressure 
are  authoritative  and  final,  and  yet  they  do  not  always 
reach  the  result  aimed  at.  If  our  analysis  is  correct 
this  is  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  teachers  take  these 
new  courses  and  turn  them  into  authoritatively  promul- 
gated courses  run  exclusively  by  the  teacher  and  thus 
stand  in  the  way  of  the  pupils  making  a  direct  approach 
themselves  and  so  handling  actively,  instead  of  receiving 
passively,  the  material  of  knowledge  which  seems  to  them 
practical  and  desirable  to  master. 

But,  besides  the  authoritative  channels  referred  to,  the 
public  is  always  exerting  pressure  in  a  direct  way  through 


SOCIALIZED   HIGH   SCHOOL   CURRICULUMS    239 

the  pupils  that  attend  the  school.  This  is  shown  by  the 
attendance  which  increases  or  falls  off  as  the  school  re- 
sponds or  not  to  public  needs.  Although  technically  this 
pressure  is  held  to  reside  in  the  parents  of  the  pupils, 
actually  it  resides  very  largely  in  the  pupils  themselves. 
In  very  many  cases  it  is  these  pupils  and  their  represen- 
tations of  what  they  need  that  influence  the  parents  in  de- 
ciding whether  they  will  send  them  to  school  or  not.  This 
influence  of  the  pupils  is  probably  increasing  in  our  times 
and  in  American  communities,  and  it  has  become  a  prac- 
tical thing  to  recognize  it  directly  in  the  school.  The 
pupils  themselves  have  become  a  considerable  part  of  the 
public  to  whose  pressure  the  school  must  slowly  conform. 
There  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  co-operate 
directly  as  well  as  indirectly  through  their  parents  in 
shaping  the  contents  of  the  courses  of  study. 

Function  of  the  Classroom. — The  place  to  do  this  is 
probably  in  the  classroom  and  in  comparatively  small 
blocks.  The  pupil's  view  of  a  subject  is  constantly 
changing,  and  he  is  capable  of  proposing  to  do  something 
in  January  which  would  not  occur  to  him  in  October. 
He  is  not  capable  of  planning  a  cour'se  for  a  whole  year 
nor,  even  in  the  case  of  electives,  able  to  choose  wisely 
one  planned  by  some  one  else.  But  most  pupils  in  the 
high  school  are  capable  of  contributing  something  which 
will  be  found  to  be  worth  while  in  any  reasonable  course. 
Their  modifications  of,  and  contributions  to,  the  course 
of  study  may  very  well  be  like  that  of  the  several  builders 
of  the  great  cathedrals  of  the  middle  ages.  The  work  of 
each  can  be  individual  and  unique,  although  massed 
together  and  organized  into  a  large  and  comprehensive 
structural  whole. 

An  Instance  of  a  Socialized  Course. — As  an  example  of 
what  is  possible  in  this  direction,  we  may  quote  from  an 


240  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

article  by  Miss  Lotta  Clark,  of  the  Charlestown  High 
School,  in  the  School  Review  (17:  255): 

"After  having  taught  history  in  the  high  school  for 
six  years  I  determined  to  have  the  courage  of  my  convic- 
tions for  one  year,  at  least,  and  to  give  my  pupils  a  fair 
chance  to  take  the  responsibility  of  their  work  and  to  do 
it  in  their  own  way.  Up  to  this  time  I  had  conducted 
my  lessons  in  the  usual  way.  I  had  planned  the  lesson 
beforehand,  collected  what  illustrative  material  I  could, 
and  in  the  class  had  asked  the  questions,  explained  the 
difficulties,  and  carried  the  burden  of  the  work  on  my 
shoulders.  The  pupils  had  answered  the  questions  but 
rarely  asked  any  and  had  had  no  chance  to  get  the  real 
benefit  of  being  responsible  for  the  continuity  and  prog- 
ress of  the  work  nor  to  plan,  investigate  or  discuss  it  on 
their  own  account.  I  determined  that  the  class  should 
be  a  social  group  of  young  people  and  should  have  an 
opportunity  to  do  just  those  things,  i.  e.,  to  co-operate — 
to  work  together — and  to  give  each  individual  a  chance 
to  do  anything  which  he  particularly  wanted  to  do. 

"It  seemed  impossible  at  first  to  get  a  chance  to  try  this 
group  work;  the  conditions  in  the  high  school  made  it 
difficult.  Instead  of  having  the  same  pupils  for  five 
hours  each  day  we  have  a  different  set  every  hour  and 
they  are  with  us  but  forty-five  minutes.  Some  of  these 
classes  we  see  only  three  times  a  week  and  as  a  number 
of  them  are  preparing  for  college  and  normal  school,  there 
is  not  a  moment  to  be  wasted.  Furthermore  I  did  not 
feel  warranted  in  trying  any  experiment  which  would  un- 
settle the  classes  and  make  them  harder  to  control  in 
other  recitations. 

"In  spite  of  all  this,  however,  I  determined  to  give  the 
social  group  work  a  fair  trial.  I  talked  the  matter  over 
with  the  classes,  showed  them  why  the  lessons  we  had 


SOCIALIZED   HIGH   SCHOOL   CURRICULUMS    241 

been  having  were  unsatisfactory  and  asked  them  how 
they  would  like  to  try  the  experiment  of  running  their 
history  lessons  themselves.  The  novelty  of  the  idea 
pleased  them  and  after  considerable  informal  discussion 
we  decided  to  carry  on  our  relations  in  the  form  of  busi- 
ness meetings  such  as  any  group  of  people  would  have 
who  had  come  together  to  accomplish  a  piece  of  work.  A 
chairman  was  appointed  from  the  class  and  there  was 
something  of  a  sensation  when  I  exchanged  chairs  with 
him.  He  appointed  a  committee  to  nominate  candi- 
dates for  president,  vice-president,  and  secretary.  These 
officers  were  elected  by  ballot  for  one  month  and  their 
duties  were  decided  upon  by  the  class  and  written  down 
in  a  simple  constitution.  We  had  an  amusing  time  when 
they  tried  to  decide  what  they  ought  to  do  with  me.  I 
told  them  I  should  do  just  as  little  as  possible  in  the  class 
in  order  that  they  might  have  all  the  time  and  oppor- 
tunity there  was.  They  finally  decided  to  call  me  the 
'executive  officer'  with  power  to  exercise  full  authority 
if  necessity  required. 

"It  was  surprising  to  see  the  change  in  the  whole  at- 
mosphere of  the  recitations  which  this  order  of  things 
brought  about.  The  pupils  were  timid  at  first  and  I 
trembled  for  the  result,  but  after  a  lesson  or  two  they 
became  used  to  it  and  the  work  went  on  with  far  more 
ease  and  spirit  than  I  had  dared  hope  it  would.  Here  is 
a  brief  sketch  of  the  new  kind  of  recitation : 

"(i)  The  president  called  the  class  to  order  and  called 
the  roll. 

"(2)  He  asked  for  the  secretary's  report,  which  was 
corrected  by  the  class  and  formally  accepted. 

"(3)  The  president  asked  if  there  were  any  unfinished 
business,  if  so  that  was  taken  up  first,  if  not, 


242  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

"(4)  The  lesson  of  the  day  was  called  for.  Whoever 
wished  to  arose  and  began  to  describe  the  historical 
events  in  the  lesson.  If  he  made  a  mistake  or  omitted 
anything  another  pupil  who  noticed  it  arose,  and  when 
recognized  by  the  president  made  the  corrections  he 
thought  necessary.  Sometimes  these  corrections  were 
not  correct  or  did  not  go  far  enough  and  several  others 
entered  into  the  discussion.  When  there  were  several 
pupils  on  the  floor  at  once  the  one  who  was  recognized 
first  by  the  president  had  the  right  of  way  and  the  others 
had  to  do  the  same  in  turn.  That  prevented  disorder. 
This  part  of  the  work  proved  to  be  of  great  value.  The 
pupils  questioned  each  other's  statements  and  when 
they  could  not  agree  the  point  was  left  over  as  unfin- 
ished business  until  the  next  day.  In  the  meantime  they 
consulted  authorities  to  be  able  to  prove  their  points 
and  they  used  their  reasoning  powers  to  good  advantage. 

"There  were  all  sorts  of  unexpected  interesting  develop- 
ments as  the  work  went  on.  Whenever  difficulties  arose 
we  solved  them  together.  My  opinion  was  considered 
of  no  more  importance  than  theirs.  When  we  did  not 
agree  I  urged  them  to  try  their  way  so  that  they  might 
have  confidence  in  their  own  judgment  if  they  succeeded 
or  see  its  weakness  if  they  failed.  Sometimes  they  elected 
officers  who  were  not  efficient  and  who  bungled  matters 
uncomfortably.  The  pupils  suffered  immediately  and 
got  some  pointed  lessons  in  civil  government  at  first 
hand. 

"To  tell  all  this  sounds  as  if  it  must  have  taken  a  great 
deal  of  time.  As  a  matter  of  fact  we  soon  found  that 
we  had  time  to  spare.  The  time  which  previously  had 
been  taken  up  by  the  teacher's  questions  was  all  saved 
and  the  pupils  could  easily  recite  in  half  an  hour  what  it 


SOCIALIZED   HIGH   SCHOOL   CURRICULUMS    243 

had  taken  them  an  hour  to  prepare.  The  reports  of  the 
secretary  helped  considerably  with  the  review  work  and 
as  the  class  grew  more  critical  of  both  the  history  and 
the  English  of  these  reports,  the  secretaries  grew  more 
careful  and  very  often  we  had  reports  read  with  which  no 
fault  could  be  found. 

"The  roll  call  and  report  were  sometimes  finished  in 
five  minutes,  the  lesson  of  the  day  in  thirty  more,  and 
we  found  ourselves  with  ten  minutes  to  spare. 

"There  were  various  suggestions  as  to  what  we  had 
better  do  with  the  extra  time.  One  was  that  they  take 
longer  lessons,  and  this  led  us  into  the  habit  of  letting 
them  assign  their  own  lessons  and  they  almost  always 
took  longer  ones  than  I  had  been  in  the  habit  of  assign- 
ing them.  Another  suggestion  was  that  the  scholars 
collect  pictures  and  show  them  to  the  class  during  spare 
minutes.  One  boy  said  he  didn't  have  much  luck  finding 
pictures  but  he  would  like  to  read  things  in  other  books 
and  tell  them  to  the  class.  A  girl  asked  if  she  might 
draw  some  pictures  from  a  book  in  the  library  and  an- 
other boy  asked  me  to  get  permission  for  him  to  take 
photographs  at  the  Art  Museum  of  the  casts  that  related 
to  our  work.  We  did  all  these  things  and  many  more, 
and  these  suggestions  led  to  the  richest  development  of 
all  in  the  work  of  that  year.  They  formed  themselves 
into  little  volunteer  clubs,  met  at  recess  and  after  school 
and  considered  what  they  could  do  to  contribute  things 
of  interest  to  the  lessons.  There  were  drawing  clubs, 
camera  clubs,  and  the  club  that  brought  in  pictures  and 
newspaper  clippings  and  gave  interesting  accounts  which 
they  had  read  called  themselves  the  'Side-lights  Club.' 
We  used  the  last  half  of  the  lesson  each  week  for  the 
reports  of  these  clubs.     They  all  did  well  for  beginners, 


244  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

but  the  work  of  the  drawing  clubs  was  truly  remarkable. 
Never  before  have  I  had  such  beautiful  illustrative  mate- 
rial. A  point  worth  noting  is  that  some  of  the  finest 
drawings  were  made  by  the  poorest  talkers.  ... 

"The  discipline  of  these  three  classes  was  the  easiest 
I  had  ever  had  and  it  became  almost  unnecessary  as  the 
years  went  on.  .  .  .  And  what  was  the  teacher's  part  in 
this  new  order  of  things?  She  was  learning  the  truth  of 
the  statement  that  'no  teacher  is  equal  to  the  dynamic 
force  of  the  class  before  her.'  Her  time  and  energy 
were  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  utilize  all  that  the  pupils 
produced,  to  help  to  get  materials  for  them,  to  find  and 
suggest  books  to  be  consulted,  and  to  give  them  credit 
for  the  work  done." 

Such  an  organization  of  work  consists  in  something 
much  more  than  a  mere  change  of  method.  Methods 
are  only  means  for  carrying  out  a  given  plan  or  aim. 
What  is  proposed  here  is  to  allow  the  public,  and  partic- 
ularly that  part  of  it  the  school  is  directly  in  contact 
with,  i.  e.,  the  pupils,  to  help  to  shape  the  content  of  the 
course  of  study  in  harmony  with  their  most  lively  and 
productive  interests.  This  will  not  exclude  the  full  im- 
pingement of  the  best  of  the  teacher's  contribution.  He 
will  probably  find  a  greater  opportunity  than  ever  before 
to  impress  his  best  ideas  upon  his  pupils.  They  become 
more  willing  to  hear  and  to  co-operate  with  him  when 
he  has  already  shown  his  willingness  to  co-operate  with 
them. 

The  following  chapter  will  deal  with  other  aspects  and 
further  instances  of  this  kind  of  organization. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   DETAILS    OF   CLASS   MANAGEMENT   IN   ITS   RELA- 
TION TO  THE  FAMILY,  THE   OUTSIDE 
COMMUNITY,  AND  THE  SUBJECT 

Dora  Williams 

TEACHER   OF    PHYSIOLOGY   AND   HYGIENE,   BOSTON   NORMAL   SCHOOL, 
BOSTON,    MASS. 

Initiative  in  Class  Work. — There  have  come  under  my 
charge  each  year  during  the  last  three  years  no  less  than 
five  parallel  classes  for  the  study  of  physiology  and  hy- 
giene. Every  year  we  succeed  in  getting  a  little  nearer 
to  what  we  believe  is  the  socialized  class  and  its  co-oper- 
tive  activities.  I  have  here  undertaken  to  sketch  the 
intimate  history  of  one  set  of  students,  showing  their 
progress  from  the  opening  of  the  course,  when  they 
caught  their  first  glimpse  of  co-operative  study  until 
near  the  close,  when  they  had  begun  fully  to  enjoy  the 
advantages  of  social  solidarity. 

These  students  might  be  described  as,  on  the  whole, 
good  scholars.  They  were  bright,  docile,  and  obedient; 
they  were  willing  to  learn  any  lessons  that  a  teacher 
might  assign  from  day  to  day.  Most  of  them  mem- 
orized well  and  many  recited  with  great  fluency. 

That  they  considered  physiology  a  schoolroom  subject 
and  studied  hygiene  as  a  lesson,  seldom  connecting  it  in 
any  vital  sense  with  their  home  affairs  or  their  neighbor- 
hood life,  was  not  their  fault.     Neither  was  it  the  fault  of 

245 


246  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

their  previous  teachers,  who  did  but  reflect  the  limita- 
tions that  almost  universally  hamper  the  present  courses 
of  study. 

The  schedule  in  physiology,  like  that  of  other  studies, 
had  been  mapped  out  long  ahead  for  the  students, 
not  by  or  with  them  as  democracy  would  suggest.  Our 
purpose  was  to  cover  the  ground  prescribed — a  neces- 
sary precaution  in  order  to  disarm  criticism — and  in 
addition  to  make  the  classroom,  as  far  as  possible,  a 
centre  of  genuine  pulsating  life.  As  to  subject-matter, 
there  should,  according  to  our  plan,  be  drawn  into  this 
extended  course  whatever  of  current  interest  to  the  com- 
munity could  be  utilized.  As  regards  human  relation- 
ships, these  should  be  socialized. 

Most  important  to  establish  first  would  be  the  rela- 
tions of  the  students  themselves  one  to  another  and  to 
the  teacher.  These  relations  would  rest  upon  a  founda- 
tion of  co-operative  work.  As  this  work  grew  these  rela- 
tions would  naturally  extend  more  widely — like  the  ever- 
enlarging  circles  made  by  a  pebble  on  a  still  pool — so  as 
to  include  the  family,  the  neighborhood,  and,  at  least  in 
sympathy,  the  world.     Where,  indeed,  need  they  stop? 

The  attitude  of  the  class  at  the  beginning  and  the 
means  by  which  it  was  gradually  changed  can  be  shown 
in  no  better  way  than  by  an  actual  picture  of  what  took 
place. 

The  scene  is  a  room  intended  for  the  study  of  science. 
Work-tables  stand  near  the  windows;  there  are  cabinets 
containing  models;  charts  hang  on  the  walls.  In  the 
centre  is  a  large  oval  table  with  chairs  for  twenty  persons. 

The  dramatis  persona  are  seventeen  active  young  girls, 
the  teacher  of  physiology,  and  numerous  visitors  who 
drop  in  from  time  to  time — a  high  school  teacher,  a  phy- 


DETAILS   OF   CLASS    MANAGEMENT  247 

sician,  a  girl  of  eleven,  and  a  mother.     The  extra  chairs 
remain  unoccupied  during  the  first  six  lessons. 

FIRST   LESSON 

Enter  the  girls,  for  the  most  part  in  twos  or  threes, 
chatting  in  the  usual  fashion.  They  stand  until  the  last 
minute,  then,  still  talking,  slip  into  the  chairs  which  are 
arranged  in  a  circle. 

A  bell  buzzes.  The  teacher  directs  the  attention  of 
the  now  politely  silent  class  to  the  printed  course  of 
study  for  the  year.  It  is  made  out  in  the  form  of  topics. 
The  so-called  "Outlines,"  representing  "What  every  stu- 
dent ought  to  know,"  have  long  since  been  mapped  out 
by  the  teachers  in  conference  and  approved  by  higher 
authorities.  They  are  spoken  of  as  the  "Required 
Work." 

How  to  use  the  outlines  in  connection  with  the  text- 
book is  explained  at  some  length  by  the  teacher.  One  of 
the  topics  is  designated  to  be  studied  and  recited  in  the 
usual  way  at  the  next  lesson. 

Teacher  (who  has  set  forth,  in  what  she  considers  an 
attractive  light,  the  value  in  daily  life  of  the  study  of 
physiology  and  hygiene).  Now  you  may  have  a  little 
while  each  week — half  an  hour,  to  start  with — in  which 
to  do  any  work  you  are  particularly  interested  in. 

(Class  sits  in  respectful  silence.) 

Teacher.  Why  not  think  the  matter  over?  I  am  sure 
that  when  you  studied  this  subject  before,  there  were — 
there  must  have  been — a  great-  many  things  that  you 
wanted  to  know,  which,  of  course,  there  wasn't  time  for. 
Talk  it  over  among  yourselves.  Tell  us  about  them 
next  time. 


248  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


SECOND   LESSON 

The  required  work  has  consumed  forty  of  the  fifty 
minutes. 

Teacher  (expectantly).  How  about  the  subjects  that 
you  were  going  to  work  up  on  your  own  account?  "Vol- 
untary Work"  shall  we  call  it? 

(The  girls  look  from  one  to  another.     No  one  speaks.) 

Teacher.  Raise  hands,  please,  all  those  who  have 
thought  of  something  they  would  like  to  do. 

(Several  look  uneasy.     No  hands  are  raised.) 

Prima  (timidly) .  I  have  heard  of  the  hookworm  dis- 
ease.    I  could  look  it  up,  if  that  is  what  you  want. 

Teacher  (encouragingly).  Of  course  it's  "what  I 
want" — I  mean,  if  the  rest  of  you  like  the  idea.  It  might 
be  made  very  profitable.  How  did  you  happen  to  think 
of  it? 

(Prima  tells  how  she  heard  of  it.) 

Teacher,  How  do  you  propose  working  it  up — getting 
the  information,  I  mean,  and  making  it  clear  and  inter- 
esting to  us? 

Prima  (half  withdrawing  into  her  shell).  I  saw  an 
article  on  it  in  The  World's  Work. 

Teacher  (persuasively,  with  pauses  for  her  remarks  to 
sink  in).  You  could  rind  still  other  articles,  I  am  sure,  and 
actual  reports  by  Doctor  Stiles  himself,  a  most  interest- 
ing man.  Some  day,  if  you  like,  I'll  tell  you  about  the 
difficulties  he  had  to  work  against  when  I  first  knew  him. 
.  .  .  Last  year  one  of  the  girls  was  able  to  get  some 
specimens  of  the  hookworm — on  slides,  you  know,  pre- 
pared for  the  microscope.  Could  you  get  any,  do  you 
think?  ...  By  the  way  (to  the  rest,  who  straighten  up 


DETAILS   OF   CLASS   MANAGEMENT  249 

a  little),  some  of  you  are  probably  good  at  handling  a 
compound  microscope. 

(Mild  assent  from  several,  who  brighten  up.) 

Teacher.  I,  for  one,  should  enjoy  seeing  what  you  could 
make  of  this  subject. 

(The  class,  during  this  monologue,  have  shown  plainly 
their  relief  at  having  the  attention  focussed  principally 
upon  one  person,  Prima.) 

Teacher  (continuing).  But,  of  course,  if  we  are  going 
to  use  the  regular  class  period,  we  shall  have  to  ask  the 
others  what  they  think  about  it.     See  what  they  say. 

Prima.  I  don't  understand. 

Teacher.  Qh,  I  mean  ask  them  if  they  think  it  is  going 
to  be  worth  while  for  you  to  take  class  time — whether 
it  is  or  not,  in  their  opinion,  a  suitable  topic — one  which 
they  will  like  to  listen  to. 

Prima  (in  a  tiny  voice,  her  eyes  cast  down).  What  do 
the  girls  think? 

(Most  of  the  class,  eying  the  teacher,  nod  assent.) 

Teacher.  Of  course,  this  is  the  time — isn't  it? — to 
speak  right  out  if  you  don't  exactly  approve. 

(Class  looks  anxious.) 

Teacher.  Does  any  one  think  it  a  little  far-fetched, 
that  is,  not  so  very  practical  for  us  to  begin  upon? 

(Class  volunteers  no  opinion.  Then  several  shake 
their  heads.) 

Teacher.  Very  well,  then.  Perhaps  you  can  give 
Prima  some  hints  about  starting  in.  (Looking  around.) 
If  I  may  venture  to  guess,  some  one  here  has  a  doctor 
in  her  family  whose  advice  upon  any  of  our  topics  would 
be  well  worth  asking — possibly  a  trained  nurse — perhaps 
some  one  else  equally  efficient  who  could  help  us  do  a 
good  piece  of  work. 


250  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

(Tertia  and  Nona  raise  their  hands  with  an  expression 
of  satisfaction.) 

Teacher.  Capital.  I  am  sure  Prima  would ,  be  de- 
lighted to  receive  any  assistance.  ...  In  fact,  if  two  or 
three  of  you  should  care  to  join  with  her  (deferentially 
to  the  young  girl) — with  her  permission,  of  course — it 
would  be  splendid.  .  .  .  Next  week  other  subjects  will  be 
brought  forward,  I  am  sure.  Don't  fear;  there  are 
plenty.  For  instance:  Who  makes  these  laws  about 
drinking-cups  on  trains,  and  why  should  they  be  neces- 
sary? What  is  all  this  talk  about  roller-towels  in  res- 
taurants? Who  says  we  shall  not  put  kerosene  in  milk 
bottles?  There  is  a  great  deal  more  discussion  about  the 
care  of  children's  teeth  now  than  when  I  was  a  young  girl. 
How  fortunate  it  would  be  if  you  should  be  able  to  coax 
Johnny  or  Susie  to  see  the  dentist! 

(Class  smile  indulgently.  This  class,  they  begin  to 
think,  is  not  so  bad  after  all,  although  decidedly  queer.) 

THIRD   LESSON 

The  time  is  the  last  ten  minutes  of  the  recitation  period, 
as  before. 

Teacher.  How  have  you  been  getting  along  with  Vol- 
untary Work?  On  these  slips  I  am  passing  around 
will  you  write  any  subject  you  have  in  mind — -if  not  for 
yourself,  for  somebody  else?  If  you  haven't  any,  just 
say  so,  signing  your  name,  of  course. 

(Class  looks  troubled.     All  write.) 

(Teacher  looks  at  the  slips.  Three  girls  out  of  seven- 
teen suggest  topics.  These  are  submitted  to  the  class 
in  the  same  way  as  before.  They  arouse  more  interest 
than  any  suggestion  yet  made.) 


DETAILS   OF   CLASS   MANAGEMENT  251 

Septima  (one  of  the  best  scholars.  Firmly.  Voicing 
the  sentiments  of  three  friends).  Miss  M.,  I  don't  under- 
stand what  you  want  us  to  do,  and  I  can't  think  of  any 
subject.     Won't  you  assign  one  to  us? 

Teacher.  Ah,  well,  all  of  us  who  do  understand,  then, 
will  have  to  "throw  light." 

(Prima,  Secunda,and  Decima,  personally  conducted  by 
the  teacher,  succeed  in  piecing  together  the  following 
explanation :) 

First,  you  are  each  one  of  you  to  imagine  yourself  as 
not  necessarily  in  school — at  a  club,  perhaps.  Next,  you 
are  to  hit  upon  some  idea  that  shall  help  us  all  to  live  .  .  . 
to  behave  ...  a  little  more  hygienically,  .  .  .  more 
wholesomely,  .  .  .  than  we  are  in  the  habit  of  doing 
every  day.  Or,  if  you  prefer,  you  shall  teach  us  some- 
thing about  the  structure  of  our  bodies.  Yes,  take 
anything  in  the  Outlines  that  pleases  you.  Only  you 
don't  want  to  make  the  mistake  of  telling  us  what  we 
know  already,  or  what  we  think  is  beyond  us,  or,  how- 
ever learned  it  may  be,  is,  in  our  opinion,  too  wide  of 
the  mark,  or  too  t'rivial.  ...  It  isn't  your  idea  to  inflict 
your  subject  upon  anybody.  .  .  .  You  want  to  serve  us, 
to  do  us  some  real  good — not  to  bore  us.  All  of  you  are 
quite  capable  of  carrying  out  such  a  plan,  I  know,  and 
of  giving  us  pleasure  into  the  bargain.  It  is  for  you  to 
ask  us  how  we  feel  about  it  beforehand — that  is,  if  pos- 
sible, you  should  give  us  some  notion  of  how  you  in- 
tend to  take  up  your  subject.  .  .  .  Isn't  all  this  a  little 
plainer  now? 

(Brows  clear.) 

Octavia  (plaintively).  I  have  thought  a  lot,  but  I  can't 
find  a  single  subject. 

Teacher.  Do  you  remember  the  Peterkins,  and  Eliza- 


252  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

beth  Eliza's  paper  for  the  Circumambient  Club?  We 
have  a  minute  more.     Let  me  read  it  to  you.     (Reads.) 

(Class  is  amused.     Cheers  up.) 

Teacher.  I  suggest  that  at  our  next  lesson  everybody 
bring  to  class  a  newspaper  or  a  magazine. 

(Class  wonders  what  new  trouble  is  ahead.) 

Teacher.  Mark  beforehand,  please,  every  allusion  to 
hygiene.  Notice,  besides,  all  the  advertisements  in  the 
street-cars  or  on  bill-boards  relating  to  health.  (Recol- 
lecting herself.)  Ah,  yes,  this  is  voluntary  work,  so,  of 
course,  you  needn't;  but  I  hope  you  will.  Don't  forget 
to  talk  with  the  family  at  home,  and  see  what  they  con- 
sider worth  while — especially  with  your  mother.  I  don't 
doubt  she  is  an  excellent  adviser  in  practical  hygiene, 
otherwise  she  could  not  have  succeeded  in  bringing  up 
the  strong,  rosy  girls  I  see  sitting  here. 

(Some  do  not  look  so  very  strong  or  so  very  rosy,  but 
the  remark  somehow  seems  to  restore  good  humor.) 

Nona.  Do  you  mean  patent  medicines,  chewing-gum, 
and  everything? 

Teacher.  I  certainly  do.  One  of  the  most  valuable 
topics  given  last  year  was  upon  headache  powders. 
Some  of  the  girls  had  actually  been  buying  them  without 
a  thought  of  harm. 

(Class  glance  furtively  from  one  to  another.) 

Teacher.  As  for  me,  leave  me  out  for  the  present. 
Forget  I  am  here  even.  I  am  almost  certain  to  go  with 
the  majority.  At  any  rate,  I'll  promise  to  tell  you  hon- 
estly when  I  don't  agree  with  you. 

(Class  looks  as  though  the  mere  suggestion  of  leaving 
out  the  teacher  was  impolite  and  quite  impossible.) 

It  seems  scarcely  necessary  to  comment  upon  this  sit- 
uation, which,  all  things  considered,  is  very  easily  ex- 


DETAILS   OF   CLASS   MANAGEMENT  253 

plained.  These  young  girls  were  far  from  dull.  They 
had  been  endowed  with  at  least  the  usual  amount  of 
enthusiasm,  curiosity,  initiative,  and  love  of  adventure. 
The  purpose  of  the  teacher  was  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  to  give  exercise  to  these  qualities,  which  had  been 
strapped  down,  as  it  were,  by  the  conventions  of  the 
schoolroom  and  by  a  hyperconsciousness  of  the  teacher's 
superiority.  Thus  they  had  lost  their  usefulness  through 
mere  inactivity.  As  this  system  of  gentle  gymnastics, 
so  to  speak,  continued,  the  class,  little  by  little,  gained 
strength  to  assert  themselves;  the  teacher  retreated. 

The  weeks  flew  by.  It  was  now  November.  Every- 
body had  chosen  something  to  present  to  the  class. 
Some  of  the  subjects  were  ambitious,  others  were  rela- 
tively unimportant.  They  represented  the  extremes  and 
every  grade  between,  and  ranged  from  the  careful  pres- 
entation of  such  a  topic  as  "The  Germ  Theory  of  Disease" 
to  the  mere  bringing  of  a  magazine  clipping  on  "Fresh 
Air."  A  few  students  had  contributed  several  times. 
The  class  discussions  were  becoming  surprisingly  free  and 
frank.  The  teacher  reserved  her  opinion  until  it  was 
actually  called  for. 

One  overheard  flying  to  and  fro  comments  like  these: 
"  I  am  not  a  bit  afraid  now.  The  work  is  getting  a  great 
deal  more  interesting.  .  .  .  Subjects  are  really  not  so 
hard  to  find.  ...  A  good  many  of  my  friends  are  help- 
ing me.  My  father  suggested  'The  Water  Supply'  for  a 
topic  and  is  showing  me  how  to  make  the  diagrams. 
His  friend,  Doctor  S.,  is  advising  me  how  to  take  it  up. 
.  .  .  It's  too  bad  all  the  girls  can't  get  over  their  shy- 
ness.    I  myself  trembled  at  first." 

Class  Organization. — In  the  meanwhile  the  class  had 
organized    and    its   business   went   like   clockwork.     A 


254  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

chairman  and  a  secretary  had  been  elected.  Members, 
when  speaking,  addressed  the  chair.  The  procedure  was 
dignified.  The  feeling  of  satisfaction  was  daily  growing 
deeper.  Thus  the  first  milestone  in  co-operative  work 
had  been  reached. 

Example  of  Group  Work. — One  day  the  work  took  a 
great  jump  ahead.  An  exercise  was  given  which  laid  bare 
to  the  class  the  significance  of  all  that  they  had  hitherto 
been  doing.  It  was  volunteered  by  two  girls  who  had 
been  working  in  partnership.  Their  subject  was  "The 
Care  of  Milk."  It  had  taken  them  several  weeks  to  pre- 
pare— far  longer  than  they  had  expected.  The  more 
they  investigated,  the  more  they  found  themselves  in- 
volved in  work.  For  example,  they  had  written  numer- 
ous letters,  visited  the  laboratories  of  the  City  Board 
of  Health,  obtained  reports  from  the  State-house,  and 
received  pamphlets  from  Washington.  They  had  col- 
lected pictures  of  model  milk  farms.  Not  contented 
with  that,  they  had  visited  the  headquarters  of  two  milk 
establishments.  In  their  own  neighborhoods  they  were 
keeping  a  sharp  watch  on  the  habits  and  customs  of  the 
milkmen — yes,  and  on  "their  tricks  and  their  manners" 
as  they  rattled  from  door  to  door.  They  watched  how 
milk  was  handled  at  the  corner  grocery. 

Except  so  far  as  to  give  a  few  hints  here  and  there  of 
what  they  were  doing,  they  preferred  to  keep  their  own 
counsel.  The  preparation  for  their  exercise,  however, 
and  the  setting  out  of  their  material,  naturally  could  not 
help  attracting  attention.  There  seemed  to  be  "some- 
thing doing."  Three  girls  from  other  classes  asked  if 
they  might  not  come  in  and  visit.  The  mother  and  the 
younger  sister  of  one  of  the  leaders  were  also  present. 
The  girls  had  already  requested  that  they  might  use  the 


DETAILS   OF   CLASS   MANAGEMENT  255 

whole  period.  Consent  was  given  with  great  alacrity 
by  their  classmates  but  with  some  show  of  reluctance 
by  the  teacher,  who  did  not  think  it  wise  to  encourage 
too  lengthy  exercises.  She  thought  the  continued  story 
preferable;  that  is,  a  short  instalment  at  successive  les- 
sons. 

On  this  particular  day  the  material  was  displayed  on 
two  long  tables  arranged  like  a  counter.  Charts  and  pic- 
tures had  been  hung.  Numerous  pamphlets  had  been 
laid  out  for  inspection.  There  was,  besides,  an  array 
of  some  of  the  identical  articles  that  had  been  confiscated 
from  careless  milkmen,  contributed  by  their  new-made 
friends  on  the  Board  of  Health.  Among  the  articles  that 
spoke  with  ugly  eloquence  were  a  bottle  caked  with  mud, 
stoppers  incrusted  with  dirty  grease,  and  a  glass  milk  jar 
half  full  of  ashes.  Not  only  did  the  subject  strike  every- 
body as  exceedingly  practical — for  the  knowledge  im- 
parted proved  of  a  solid  and  trustworthy  character— but 
the  contrivances  used  in  presenting  it  were  considered 
unique. 

Co-operation  of  Outsiders. — The  girls  began  by  briefly 
recounting  how  they  had  obtained  information,  men- 
tioning first  the  list  of  books  and  the  pamphlets  that  they 
had  found  valuable.  Then  they  enumerated  the  visits 
they  had  paid  and  referred  with  gratitude  to  the  many 
persons,  most  of  them  strangers,  who  had  helped  them. 
Among  the  number  were  several  men  of  prominence  who 
had  ungrudgingly  spared  time  to  advise  and  assist  them. 
It  was  their  first  contact  with  the  rushing,  hurrying  busi- 
ness world,  and  they  were  impressed  by  its  readiness  to 
co-operate  with  them  in  their  efforts.  This  little  pro- 
logue increased  the  confidence  that  their  audience  had 
already  placed  in  them  and  heightened  anticipation. 


256  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

The  two  girls  arranged  rather  cleverly  that,  since  both 
had  shared  equally  in  the  work,  both  should  share  in  the 
presentation.  While  one  was  speaking  the  other  acted 
as  her  assistant,  displaying  at  the  right  moment  the 
illustrative  material.  When  the  first  stopped  the  sec- 
ond girl,  without  hesitation  or  embarrassment,  took  up 
the  thread  of  the  story,  her  friend  now  becoming  the 
assistant.  They  alternated  thus  a  dozen  times  with 
dramatic  effect. 

At  intervals  they  paused  a  minute  or  two  for  ques- 
tions. Occasionally  they  threw  out  a  question  them- 
selves, to  see  what  impression  they  were  making  and 
whether  or  not  all  the  girls  were  with  them.  "What  is 
the  best  way  of  washing  glass  jars?"  they  would  ask. 
"Is  uncooked  milk  ever,  strictly  speaking,  safe?"  The 
talk  ended  with  an  exhortation  in  this  vein:  "Now,  girls, 
milk  is  used  in  every  household.  We  want  you  to  take 
hold  of  this  matter.  Will  you  examine  your  own  milk 
bottles?  Will  you  follow  up  your  own  milkman?  .  .  . 
As  soon  as  you  can  we  want  you  to  report  to  us."1 

At  the  close  everybody  asked  questions.  This  con- 
gregation simply  would  not  break  up.  All  wanted  to 
linger.  It  was  considered  by  the  class  nothing  short  of  a 
triumph. 

The  teacher,  also,  considered  it  a  triumph  for  the  fol- 
lowing reasons:  this  demonstration  was  not  only  "vol- 
untary work" — something  offered  of  their  own  volition 
as  opposed  to  the  assigned  task,  however  agreeable — but 
it  was  co-operative  work;  it  had  been  genuinely  self- 
organized.  This  meant  not  only  that  the  whole  range 
of  information  had  been  planned  out  and  presented  at  the 
initiative  of  the  students,  with  the  approval  but  without 
1  In  a  fortnight  two  families  had  changed  milkmen. 


DETAILS   OF   CLASS   MANAGEMENT  257 

the  assistance  of  a  teacher,  but  that,  besides,  it  had  been 
carried  on  in  a  distinctly  social  way.  Furthermore,  their 
aim  had  been  social  from  the  very  start.  As  we  have 
seen,  they  went  into  this  bit  of  investigation  with  the 
definite  idea  of  benefiting  their  classmates,  whose  ap- 
proval was  to  be  the  sign  of  success.  In  addition,  they 
accomplished  this  in  a  truly  social  fashion  by  working 
together  as  a  team.  The  idea  of  self  was  merged  in  that 
of  the  group.  Not  a  trace  of  pettiness,  nor  of  anxiety 
as  to  whether  one  should  receive  more  recognition  than 
the  other,  crept  in  to  mar  the  perfection  of  their  effort. 
These  partners,  by  the  by,  at  the  start  were  but  slightly 
acquainted. 

When  asked  to  tell  their  experiences  a  little  more  in 
detail,  they  said:  "It  did  take  an  enormous  amount  of 
time.  We  thought  we  should  never  get  it  ready,  but  we 
enjoyed  every  single  minute.  It  is  great  fun  working 
with  a  partner.  We  wish  the  other  girls  would  try  it. 
We  are  going  to  coax  them  to.  They  don't  know  what 
they  miss." 

This,  then,  may  be  considered  an  example  of  volun- 
tary, self-organized  group  work — in  short,  team  work  in 
study.  This  serves,  also,  as  an  example  of  how  the  school 
and  the  community  can  play  the  game  of  social  better- 
ment together. 

Effect  Upon  the  Class. — This  exercise,  reaching  in  so 
many  ways  high-water  mark,  gave  courage  to  the  rest 
of  the  class.  Other  topics  followed  in  quick  succession. 
Some  of  the  girls  frankly  adopted  the  successful  features 
of  this  demonstration,  always  giving  due  credit  to  their 
predecessors. 

Viewed  from  the  point  of  intellectual  accomplishment, 
the  class  work  had  now  begun  to  gain  greatly.     It  became 


258  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

more  thorough,  more  accurate,  more  liberal  in  scope. 
Questions — always  the  severest  test  of  scholarship — were 
invited.  An  attempt  was  made  to  clear  up  every  doubt. 
The  results,  as  shown  in  oral  and  written  reports  (now 
required  by  the  leaders  so  as  to  dispel  any  illusion  that 
their  aim  was  to  please  rather  than  to  instruct),  were 
strikingly  satisfactory.  Viewed  socially,  the  class  work 
showed  that  the  co-operative  idea  had  apparently  been 
well  grasped.  The  rewards  thus  far  tasted  had  been 
exclusively  those  earned  by  social  service. 

Recording  Values. — A  new  task,  which  could  be  side- 
tracked no  longer,  now  confronted  the  class.  Were  all 
these  contributions,  which  had  been  given  so  generously 
and  received  so  appreciatively,  of  equal  value?  Should 
they  be  included  in  the  record  of  scholarship  for  the  half- 
year?  Who  should  estimate  their  precise  worth?  The 
teacher?  The  scholars  then  must.  No  other  decision 
appealed  to  them  as  logical.  This  proved  the  severest 
test  yet  of  their  co-operative  strength.  Debate  upon  this 
matter  became  absorbing;  it  used  up  one  whole  period 
and  ran  into  the  next.  At  last,  by  ballot,  strict  justice 
so  far  as  lay  in  their  power  was  secured  and,  as  they 
agreed,  all  personal  considerations  were  successfully 
banished. 

We  should  here  like  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  young  girl  in  her  teens  does  not  take  overkindly  to 
the  idea  of  marking  her  friends.  Admitting  frankly  that 
it  is  only  fair  play  for  her  to  express  her  opinion,  she  pre- 
fers, notwithstanding,  to  leave  this  matter  to  a  teacher. 
"It  seems  too  personal,"  she  thinks. 

All  the  more  important,  it  would  appear  to  us,  that  she 
should  not  be  arrested  at  this  point  in  her  social  develop- 
ment, but  that  she  should  be  steered  through  this  dim- 


DETAILS   OF   CLASS   MANAGEMENT  259 

culty  as  swiftly  as  circumstances  permit.  Here  is  an 
instance  of  the  need  of  the  wise  guidance  of  an  older 
person.  A  teacher  watches  closely  the  opportunity.  A 
young  person,  so  we  find,  can  be  successfully  trained  into 
a  dispassionate  weighing  of  opinion — the  judicial  habit— 
and  a  proper  eliminating  of  personal  feeling.  Will  not 
power  in  this  direction  give  to  the  community  a  more 
useful  type  of  woman? 

In  this  instance  the  grading — done  by  themselves — 
was  recorded  upon  a  large  sheet  of  quadrille  paper  posted 
in  full  view.  Each  exercise  was  allotted  proportionate 
space;  that  is,  a  certain  number  of  squares,  according 
to  its  value.  The  contributions  ranking  highest,  were 
those  which  the  class  had  "got  most  out  of." 

Raising  the  Class  Level. — The  completion  of  this 
chart  was  hailed  with  immense  satisfaction.  On  sec- 
ond thought,  however,  there  lurked  misgivings.  Some 
records  had  won  deserved  applause  because  they  were 
such  "sky-scrapers."  Great  was  the  consternation  to 
behold  that  certain  girls  had  done  so  little.  It  was  an 
actual  shock  to  find  that,  in  the  scramble  to  get  one's 
own  work  in,  others  had  been  forgotten.  Girls  there 
were,  too,  who,  for  the  most  part,  were  not  exceptionally 
dull  or  lazy,  but  perhaps  shy,  and  by  nature  and  habit 
unco-operative  and  exclusive.  They  found  themselves, 
somehow  or  other,  out  of  the  contest,  and  nobody  had 
noticed. 

Who  was  responsible?  This  was  voluntary  work.  Of 
course,  the  teacher  had  foreseen  from  the  first  this  sea- 
son of  dissatisfaction  and  regret.  Was  it  the  teacher's 
business  to  prod  the  laggards?  The  students  maintained 
not.     Enough  hints  had  been  given,  they  said. 

Usually  in  a  class  the  members  feel  sorry — of  course 


260  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

they  do — for  those  who  fail,  but  they  do  not  regard 
themselves  as  in  any  way  accountable.  In  a  co-opera- 
tive class  the  thing  is  looked  at  differently.  If  any  liv- 
ing bond  such  as  "the  all  conquering  love  of  comrades" 
exists,  it  surely  binds  classmates  in  co-operative  work. 
After  a  moment  of  silence — which  could,  without  exag- 
geration, be  called  solemn — the  class,  with  one  accord, 
arose  to  a  higher  plane  of  social  usefulness.  "We  didn't 
realize  it.  .  .  .  This  will  never  do."  Then  "  but  what  are 
we  going  to  do  about  it?" 

For  a  lesson  or  two,  purposely,  no  special  inquiries 
were  made  by  the  teacher,  but  she  felt  in  the  air  a  certain 
hum  of  activity  such  as  might  happen  at  some  crisis  in  a 
beehive.  "We  are  going  to  raise  the  class  level,"  was  the 
way  they  worded  it.  How?  Devices  in  plenty  were 
now  thought  out,  some  of  which  were  as  follows: 

To  suggest  desirable  topics  for  those  who  had  done 
least. 

To  pair  off  in  new  combinations  so  that  a  girl  weak  in 
initiative  should  work  with  a  strong  partner. 

To  give  a  backward  student  the  first  chance  to  report. 
Naturally,  this  meant  a  genuine  sacrifice  on  the  part  of 
the  most  capable  scholars  at  a  time  when  so  much  was 
ready  and  when  opportunities  were  getting  scarce. 

To  study  to  bring  out  at  every  point  the  views  of  the 
silent  ones. 

There  went  on,  besides,  a  good  deal  of  friendly  coach- 
ing which  was  never  made  public.  The  class  progressed 
by  leaps  and  bounds.  Great  was  the  rejoicing  when,  the 
work  of  the  third  term  completed,  the  record  of  this  class 
stood  away  ahead.  Its  total  average  was  the  highest  of 
the  six  parallel  classes.  No  student  fell  below  eighty 
per  cent,  the  passing  mark  being  seventy  per  cent.    There 


DETAILS   OF   CLASS   MANAGEMENT  201 

were  inequalities — that  was  taken  as  a  matter  of  course — 
but  solidarity  had  brought  all  into  port  with  colors  flying. 

Let  us  retrace  for  a  little  the  steps  by  which  we  have 
so  far  come.  It  has  been  shown  how,  at  the  outset,  the 
sense  of  responsibility  was  awakened  in  the  classroom. 
Next  followed  the  further  development  of  initiative — 
imperative  if  new  ground  was  to  be  explored  and  suit- 
able subjects  selected  from  a  bewildering  number  of  pos- 
sibilities. Then  came  the  self-imposed  task  of  working 
up  the  information  and  presenting  it  acceptably  to  a 
company  of  classmates.  "Will  they  understand  this?" 
"Will  they  care  for  that?"  was  asked  at  every  turn  by 
the  small  voice  within — the  social  voice. 

From  the  vantage-point  attained,  and  in  the  glow  of 
having  rendered  a  service,  it  now  dawned  upon  a  few 
how  effectively  certain  pieces  of  work  might  be  done  in 
partnership.  Such  an  arrangement  would  furnish  just 
the  right  person  with  whom  to  plan,  to  consult,  to  laugh, 
in  times  of  discouragement  even  to  weep,  and,  finally, 
with  whom  to  share  the  triumph.  True  comrades,  be- 
sides, would  warn  each  other  of  pitfalls  and  would  cor- 
rect in  private  those  small  mistakes  which  one  is  sure 
one  never  makes. 

Co-operative  work  takes  time.  On  the  other  hand, 
time  was  actually  saved.  This  was  shown  in  striking 
fashion  when  it  came  to  matters  that  required  memo- 
rizing. From  time  to  time  groups  were  organized  by 
those  who  showed  special  talent  for  conducting  quizzes 
and  impromptu  tests.  These  new  brooms  swept  clean, 
I. assure  you.  And  the  girls  as  a  body  yielded  with 
good  grace  to  this  unremitting  and  decidedly  stiff  cross- 
questioning,  especially  since,  by  drilling  them  in  details, 
it  enabled  them  to  gain  time  for  the  voluntary  topics. 


262  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Has  there  been  surprise  that  team  play  in  study  or 
group  work  has  advanced  so  slowly?  At  first  glance  it 
seemed  capable  of  quick  growth,  but  in  reality  it  is  no 
mushroom.  Too  many  school  traditions  have  for  too 
long  a  time  discouraged  it.  "I  like  to  work  by  myself," 
objected  a  "best  scholar,"  who  afterward,  by  the  by, 
became  an  ardent  convert  to  co-operative  work.  "Then 
I  know  where  I  stand.  I  might  get  a  partner  who  would 
spend  very  little  time,  who  would  expect  me  to  do  all  the 
work,  and,  at  the  end,  would  claim  most  of  the  credit." 
So,  indeed,  she  might.  In  this  instance  the  class  re- 
sponded rather  dryly:  "We  don't  think  you  can  be  very 
wise,  then,  in  choosing  a  partner.  Besides,  if  girls  are 
mean,  they  soon  get  found  out  and  are  left  out  in  the 
cold.  We  advise  you  to  try  again  and  not  to  be  so 
afraid." 

Extension  of  Work. — So  numerous  were  the  outsiders 
connected  with  one  phase  or  another  of  this  work  that 
those  whose  interest  had  taken  some  tangible  form  were 
enrolled  as  honorary  members  of  the  class.  Nobody 
that  could  meet  this  requirement  was  too  wise  or  too 
simple,  too  learned  or  too  ignorant,  too  old  or  too  young. 
The  list,  in  consequence,  was  like  this:  my  dentist;  our 
family  physician;  the  washwoman  (who  had  overheard 
some  talk  about  septic  fingers);  my  baby  sister;  the 
butcher  around  the  corner;  three  urchins  deterred  (for 
the  time  being,  at  least)  from  using  cigarettes.  In  num- 
bers it  reached  nearly  a  hundred. 

In  connection  with  the  extension  of  the  class  work  to 
outsiders  it  may  be  worth  while  to  know  that  the  mem- 
bers, during  their  last  term,  wrote  a  number  of  interest- 
ing papers,  chiefly  in  the  form  of  letters,  describing  their 
co-operative  organization.  Among  their  correspondents 
were  several  high  school  teachers  who  had  started,  or 


DETAILS   OF   CLASS   MANAGEMENT  263 

who  proposed  starting,  similar  work  in  other  towns. 
They  exchanged  experiences  also  with  classes  in  manual 
training  at  Attleboro,  with  students  in  the  Charlestown 
High  School  on  the  subjects  of  history,  music,  and  liter- 
ture,  and  with  students  in  the  Framingham  High  School. 

Enrichment  of  the  Programme. — A  partial  list  of  the 
subjects  dealt  with  in  the  co-operative  work  will  give  a 
notion  of  the  way  in  which  the  course  was  enriched. 
Under  physiology  and  personal  hygiene  were  included: 
the  structure  of  the  skin  (illustrated  by  microscope  slides) ; 
care  of  the  complexion  (warnings  against  quackery) ;  the 
structure  of  teeth  (specimens  were  furnished  by  a  dentist 
acquaintance);  the  anatomy  of  the  foot  (how  to  choose 
proper  shoes);  approved  methods  of  caring  for  the  hair 
and  the  nails  (fully  demonstrated) ;  the  anatomy  of  the 
heart  (specimens  of  the  heart  of  an  ox,  a  sheep,  a  chicken, 
and  a  frog  having  been  donated  by  a  friendly  butcher). 

Family  and  community  hygiene  included:  the  public 
water-supply;  the  care  of  milk;  shall  we  sleep  outdoors 
and  why?  how  to  take  care  of  a  bedroom;  a  clean  market 
and  how  to  secure  it;  the  reason  why  we  should  improve 
our  posture  (formation  of  a  posture  club) ;  vegetarianism 
(a  debate);  and  at  least  twenty  more.  Some  of  these 
subjects,  to  be  sure,  were  touched  upon  in  the  outlines, 
but  not  in  so  live  a  way  and  never  so  exhaustively. 

The  selection  of  a  partner,  or  of  more  than  one,  and  the 
organization  of  a  group  within  a  group,  mean  a  long  stride 
in  the  social  progress.  The  little,  self-organized  group 
works  for  the  benefit  of  the  large  group,  the  class.  The 
interdependence  of  the  small  and  large  circles  is  felt  by 
all.  The  class  is  now  ready  to  find  a  way  to  extend  its 
domain  still  further  and  its  influence  to  a  still  larger 
group.  This  advance  is,  in  fact,  only  a  continuation  of 
the  same  story. 


264  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Outwardly,  at  present,  the  work  is  moving  along  well. 
The  class  seems  to  be  pulling  with  even  stroke  together. 
More  is  planned  for  each  lesson  than  can  be  given.  .  Visi- 
tors express  delight.  Other  teachers  plan  to  try  the  same 
principle.  Why  concern  ourselves,  then,  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  chart,  some  pupils  are  overshadowed  by  the 
rest  and  are  taking  too  small  a  part?  Surely  this  is 
always  the  way  in  school.  The  answer,  we  repeat,  is  that 
in  a  socially  organized  group  there  can  be  tolerated  no 
"submerged  tenth."  The  social  conscience  is  aroused, 
the  strong  put  the  weak  on  their  feet,  and  finally  the 
class  level,  by  the  strength  of  comradeship,  is  raised. 
By  this  process  the  power  of  leadership,  also,  is  de- 
veloped. The  training  is  not  aimed  simply  at  the  ulti- 
mate welfare  of  the  individual  but  at  that  of  society.  The 
community  sorely  needs  in  men  and  women — does  it  not? 
— precisely  the  qualities  thus  developed.  The  co-opera- 
tive class,  the  voluntary,  self-organized  group,  if  it 
does  its  legitimate  work,  educates  for  social  service. 
This  is  our  interpretation  of  social  education. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  feasibility  of  thus  organ- 
izing classes  at  work  upon  other  subjects  seemed  an  open 
question,  although  certain  portions  of  the  curriculum 
promised,  under  such  treatment,  signal  success.  This 
period  of  probation  is  now  nearly  past.  I  have  personal 
knowledge  of  successful  social  education  in  English, 
music,  history,  mathematics,  and  manual  training.  In 
addition,  I  have  myself  tried  social  experiments  in 
zoology,  botany,  and  school  gardening.  Nor  have  I 
hesitated  to  recommend  group  work  in  the  modern 
languages  and  in  Latin — indeed,  I  should  welcome  such 
progress  most  hopefully. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  DIRECTION  OF  STUDY  AS  THE  CHIEF  AIM  OF  THE 
HIGH  SCHOOL 

Alfred  L.  Hall-Quest,  A.M. 

ASSISTANT    IN    EDUCATION,   UNIVERSITY    OF    ILLINOIS 

The  Need  of  Attending  to  the  Technic  of  Study. — 
The  problems  of  study  already  considered  become  even 
more  significant  when  the  importance  of  economizing 
the  pupil's  time  and  strength  while  studying  is  taken  into 
account.  Beautiful  buildings  and  efficient  administra- 
tion avail  but  little  if  we  do  not  adequately  supervise  the 
pupil's  habits  of  study  not  only  in  the  class  study  period 
but  wherever  he  may  try  to  learn  his  lessons.  No  doubt 
many  of  us  can  recall  our  sense  of  utter  helplessness  when 
the  teacher  assigned  a  new  lesson  without  giving  suffi- 
cient directions  as  to  how  the  lesson  might  be  most 
readily  mastered.  Instead  of  finding  school  a  thing  of 
beauty  and  delight,  we  dreaded  the  teacher  and  worried 
sometimes  the  night  through  about  the  next  day's  recita- 
tion. Unquestionably  there  has  been  much  improve- 
ment in  the  technic  of  teaching.  Teachers  are  now  better 
equipped  to  prepare  the  pupil  for  his  study  tasks,  not 
depriving  him,  meanwhile,  of  the  needful  self-initiative 
without  which  real  learning  is  impossible.  With  all  of 
this  improvement  in  classroom  management,  it  still  is 
true  that  the  great  problem  of  elimination  and  retarda- 

265 


266  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

tion  makes  it  imperative  that  the  teacher's  individual 
work  for  the  individual  pupil  be  emphasized.  The  study 
problem  is  individualistic.  While  investigations  show 
that  there  are  certain  fundamental  laws  in  every  learning 
process,  they  show  just  as  clearly  that  there  are  marked 
individual  differences  which  must  be  kept  in  mind  by  the 
teacher  who  desires  to  be  effective  in  leading  the  timid 
as  well  as  the  ever-ready  pupil  to  the  front  rank  of  effi- 
ciency. Educators  are  now  recognizing  that  no  small 
part  of  the  teacher's  mission  consists  in  the  direction  of 
the  pupil's  methods  of  study.  This  function  must  deter- 
mine in  the  last  analysis  the  technic  of  teaching. 

The  Meaning  of  Study. — Before  considering  a  few  of 
the  phases  of  the  technic  of  study  it  is  important  that 
the  meaning  of  study  be  understood.  In  the  Briggs  re- 
port of  conditions  at  Harvard  one  student  is  quoted  as 
<•  saying:  "I  didn't  loaf;  I  simply  didn't  know  how  to  get 
at  things.  In  those  days  there  was  nobody  to  go  to  for 
advice,  and  I  had  never  read  anything,  had  never  been 
inside  a  public  library.  I  didn't  know  where  or  how  to 
take  hold."  Presumably  this  freshman  had  not  been 
directed  how  to  study  while  in  high  school.  He  did  not 
know  what  was  expected  of  him  as  a  student. 

There  have  been  various  definitions  of  study  offered 
by  investigators  in  this  field.  Jones  says  that  study  is 
the  power  to  see,  observe,  comprehend,  compare,  reason, 
and  deduce.  It  is  getting  an  understanding  of  some 
object.  A  similar  conception  is  presented  by  Colgrove. 
1  'No  cursory  looking  over  the  pages  of  a  book  is  study. 
No  attempts  merely  to  memorize  is  study.  Study  is  the 
attentive  application  of  the  mind  to  an  object  or  subject 
for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  knowledge  of  it.  Study  in- 
volves persistent  attention,  the  continued  or  prolonged 


THE  DIRECTION  OF  STUDY  267 

holding  of  the  mind  to  the  knowing  of  an  object  by  acts 
of  the  will.  Study  means  to  observe  with  care,  to  dis- 
cover qualities  and  relations,  to  compare  objects  or 
ideas,  to  analyze  a  whole  into  its  parts,  to  combine  ideas 
into  new  groups,  to  classify  knowledge;  it  is  investigating 
with  interest,  examining  with  a  purpose,  inquiring  with 
zeal.  Study  is  the  self-effort  of  the  pupil  to  obtain 
knowledge."  McMurry  suggests  that  all  studying  must 
be  purposeful.  "The  study  of  a  subject  has  not  reached 
its  end  until  the  guiding  purpose  has  been  accomplished 
and  the  knowledge  has  been  used  in  a  normal  way  and 
has  become  -experience.  .  .  .  The  common  notion  that 
study  should  consist  of  thinking  is  therefore  correct." 

From  the  foregoing  and  several  other  definitions  we 
may  abstract  the  following  elements  in  a  composite  con- 
ception of  study: 

i.  Observation  or  experimentation  in  order  to  discover 
qualities  and  relations. 

2.  Interpretation,  invention,  or  fancying. 

3.  The  attentive,  zealous,  interested,  and  vigorous  ap- 
plication of  the  mind  to  a  specific  object  for  the  purpose 
of  acquiring  knowledge  about  it,  be  this  object  word, 
principle,  thing,  or  person. 

4.  Comparison  of  objects  or  ideas. 

5.  Classification — the  systematizing  of  the  whole  into 
its  parts  and  combining  them  into  new  groups. 

6.  Reasoning  either  by  deduction  or  induction. 

7.  Assimilation  of  knowledge  gained  into  experience 
that  develops,  preserves,  and  refines  individuality. 

8.  The  continual  direction  of  this  enlarged  experience. 
Study,  we  may  say,  then,  is  that  activity  on  the  part 

of  a  student  or  an  apprentice  in  which  he  seeks  to  become 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  history,  nature,  and  uses 


268  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

of  a  subject  or  object.  This  implies  that  the  subject  or 
object  must  be  understood  as  to  purpose  and  various 
uses.  In  the  ready  acquiring  of  such  knowledge  or 
skill  the  proper  application  of  certain  functions  m  the 
learning  process  as  instincts,  imagination,  memory,  and 
perception  must  be  highly  trained. 

Correct  studying  depends  also  on  certain  at  present 
inadequately  understood  emotional  tones  or  moods 
which  determine  what  phases  of  a  problem  the  student 
will  select  as  more  significant  for  him  at  one  time  than 
at  other  times.  Studying  is  not  an  isolated  act.  When- 
ever we  attempt  to  learn  something  we  make  use  of  a 
multiplicity  of  incidents  and  even  accidents,  a  variety 
of  mental  and  spiritual  acquaintances  formed  through- 
out our  general  or  more  specialized  reading  and  obser- 
vation. Investigators  in  this  field  of  study  find  that 
the  learner  is  easily  influenced  by  conditions  of  health, 
weather,  and  climate,  each  one  of  which  may  seriously 
retard  the  learning  process. 

Of  no  less  importance  are  the  various  educational 
policies  that  either  awaken  or  stupefy  interest  in  the 
things  of  life.  It  is  coming  to  be  generally  recog- 
nized that  the  arrangement  and  the  contents  of  our  sev- 
eral curriculums  determine  to  a  large  extent  the  pupil's 
attitude  toward  the  main  business  of  his  school  career. 
The  high  school  does  not  exist  for  the  exploitation  of 
ingenious  educational  schemes.  Being  the  creation  of 
individualistic  society,  the  secondary  school  must  be  so 
organized  that  all  of  its  pupils,  regardless  of  social  or 
mental  status,  receive  such  training  as  will  fit  the  indi- 
vidual for  effective  citizenship.  This  doubtless  seems  a 
truism,  but  there  are  innumerable  instances  where  high 
school  teachers  have  catered  to  the  exceptionally  well- 


THE   DIRECTION   OF   STUDY  269 

endowed  pupil  and  have  neglected  the  timid,  una  roused 
individual  whose  greatest  problem  often  is  to  know  how- 
to  study,  how  to  use  those  powers  of  which  he  may  be 
only  dimly  conscious.  The  high  school,  therefore,  must 
have  a  large  view  of  study  as  a  process  or  activity 
whereby  the  whole,  harmoniously  co-operating  individual 
becomes  acquainted  with  several  possible  adjustments 
toward  persons  and  things.  In  dealing  with  the  problem 
of  study,  then,  we  are  concerned  with  all  of  those  forces 
of  individuality  that  unitedly  make  the  pupil  efficient  in 
attacking  new  lessons  or  in  elaborating  newly  discovered 
truths. 

Factors  in  the  Technic  of  Study. — The  pupil  at  work 
is  controlled  in  a  very  definite  way  by  the  school  organi- 
zation of  which  he  is  a  member.  It  is  hardly  probable 
that  the  average  high  school  boy  or  girl  thinks  far  beyond 
marks  as  a  goal  of  study.  The  approval  of  the  school  au- 
thorities as  represented  in  classroom  marks  or  a  diploma 
is  doubtless  a  legitimate  ambition  of  these  adolescents. 
Closely  in  touch  with  the  pupil  is  the  teaching  force  of 
the  school,  represented  by  the  principal  and  the  teachers. 
It  is  evident  that  these  have  an  inestimable  influence  on 
how  the  pupil  studies.  Text-books  and  other  forms  of 
literature  as  well  as  laboratory  equipment  are  constant 
factors  in  the  occupation  of  every  pupil.  Of  no  less  im- 
portance are  certain  conditions  in  the  classroom  and  in 
the  home,  not  to  mention  all-important  personal  factors 
that  make  or  mar  study  efficiency. 

Hindrances,  often  seemingly  trivial,  are  nevertheless 
to  be  considered  as  bearing  directly  upon  the  pupil's 
success  or  failure.  If  the  teacher  knew  the  goal  that 
beckoned  the  pupils  on  to  classroom  achievement,  if  the 
teacher  understood  the  secret  yearnings  and  battles  that 


270  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

only  too  often  sap  the  nerve  strength  and  distract  the 
attention  of  adolescent  boys  and  girls  a  large  part  of  the 
study  problem  might  be  solved.  In  every  high  school  are 
individuals  whose  home  environment  is  depressing.  Fre- 
quently teachers  have  in  their  classes  girls  whose  gar- 
ments are  tawdry  as  compared  with  those  of  their 
wealthier  sisters.  It  is  a  serious  fact  that  wounded  pride, 
repressed  vanity,  unsympathetic  home  life,  and  loneli- 
ness tend  to  check  mental  progress  unless  the  teacher  can 
spread  over  such  unfortunate  boys  and  girls  some  light 
of  hope  in  a  friendly,  helping  attitude.  These  lacks,  un- 
tapped springs  of  real  mental  efficiency,  are  perhaps  of 
greater  moment  in  the  problem  of  study  than  the  pres- 
ent complexity  of  programme  can  remove.  Individual 
differences,  however,  cannot  be  disregarded  in  a  secon- 
dary system  of  education  whose  purpose  the  community 
conceives  to  be  to  give  every  boy  and  girl  an  opportunity 
to  reach  the  maximum  of  intellectual  realization  within 
the  powers  of  each  individual. 

The  Teacher  an  Alpine  Guide. — It  cannot  be  repeated 
too  often  that  good  studying  depends  largely  upon  good 
teaching.  The  latter  is  determined  not  simply  by  the 
technic  of  presenting  subject-matter  to  a  class,  but  also 
by  that  intangible  quality  which  is  conveniently  called 
personality.  An  investigation  a  few  years  ago  brought 
to  light  some  interesting  facts  in  this  connection.  Eight 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  high  school  pupils  stated 
that  their  best  and  most  helpful  teachers  were  pleasant, 
cheerful,  optimistic,  enthusiastic,  and  young.  One  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  of  these  pupils  judged  their  favorite 
teacher  as  kind,  forgiving,  and  generous.  One  hundred 
and  twelve  of  them  said  that  the  popular  teacher  was 
never  rude,  harsh,  sarcastic,  nor  given  to  the  use  of  ridi- 


THE   DIRECTION   OF   STUDY  271 

cule.  Cheerful,  good-natured,  happy,  jolly,  witty,  even- 
tempered,  and  sociable  were  popular  qualities.  One  hun- 
dred and  four  of  these  pupils  regarded  the  favorite 
teacher  as  patient,  considerate,  not  unreasonably  strict. 
Fifty-nine  found  firmness,  decision,  businesslike  alti- 
tude, and  strictness  desirable  qualities.  Doing  things 
that  helped  them  most  was  considered  by  several  pupils 
as  essential  in  an  effective  and  popular  teacher. 

The  attractiveness  and  magnetism  of  the  teacher  be- 
fore the  class  will  inspire  the  pupils  to  work  much  more 
quickly  than  an  impersonal,  haughty,  strict  attitude, 
which  may,  indeed,  frighten  the  pupils  into  learning  their 
lessons  but  will  never  focus  their  attention  on  those 
finer  aspects  of  learning  in  which  the  pupil  works  be- 
cause he  loves  the  teacher  and  the  subject  this  teacher 
presents.  There  are  teachers  whose  presence  in  the 
classroom  creates  an  atmosphere  that  seems  charged 
with  the  finest  suggestion  for  intellectual  achievement. 
In  such  classes  the  study  problem  is  greatly  minimized. 
The  writer  has  in  mind  a  teacher  of  geometry.  Her 
presence  in  the  classroom  is  cold,  indifferent,  formal,  for- 
bidding. The  whole  recitation  is  a  bore  to  teacher  and 
pupils.  In  the  same  high  school  is  a  teacher  of  history, 
whose  voice,  general  manner,  interest  in  the  subject, 
ingenious  presentation  of  the  lesson  material,  kindly  but 
firm  adherence  to  a  well-ordered  discipline,  and,  withal,  a 
friendly  attitude  toward  every  member  of  the  class  make 
an  atmosphere  laden  with  suggestion  for  the  finest 
mental  effort.  Boys  and  girls  are  quick  to  respond  to 
sincere  friendship  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  Super- 
ficial professional  attitudism  in  high  school  as  well  as  in 
college  creates  a  fixed  gulf  between  teacher  and  pupil. 

This  friendship  for  the  pupils  is  best  revealed  in  the 


272  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

personal  conference.  Herein  lies  the  teacher's  opportu- 
nity. Conferences,  to  be  sure,  take  time  and  strength. 
They  are,  however,  the  finest  test  of  a  teacher's  fitness 
for  the  work.  In  many  high  schools  teachers  have  a  for- 
mal office  hour  which  proves  very  helpful;  but  the  con- 
ference takes  on  the  nature  of  an  informal  visit  either  in 
the  school  building  or  in  the  home.  In  the  course  of  a 
social  conversation  the  main  topic  may  deal  with  the 
various  ways  in  which  an  especially  troublesome  subject 
can  be  studied.  In  this  way  the  pupil  is  encouraged  to 
confide  in  the  teacher.  Through  this  exchange  of  confi- 
dences many  a  pupil  begins  to  see  the  worthwhileness  of 
a  school  career,  and  whatever  difficulties  that  may  appear 
are  met  with  courage  and  determination. 

Assignments. — Pupils  can  be  greatly  helped  also  by 
the  teacher's  method  of  assigning  lessons.  A  fundamen- 
tal principle  in  this  connection  consists  in  the  assignment 
growing  naturally  out  of  the  day's  discussion.  The  study- 
ing of  the  next  ten  pages  may  or  may  not  be  inspiring 
or  worth  while.  A  discriminating  teacher  will  not 
attempt  to  cover  every  page  in  the  text-book.  But,  if 
in  the  next  ten  pages  there  are  some  fascinating  truths 
which  the  teacher  can  attractively  advertise  in  the 
assigning  of  the  new  lesson,  it  is  likely  that  the  class 
will  be  curious  enough  to  look  over  the  teacher's 
"goods"  more  carefully.  The  teacher  must  always  be 
a  salesman  of  truth. 

In  the  next  lesson,  to  change  the  figure,  there  may  be 
difficult  heights  to  scale.  The  teacher,  knowing  the  lay 
of  the  land,  will  guide  the  young  climbers  to  the  appreci- 
ation and  more  thorough  understanding  of  the  meaning 
of  these  life  facts.  It  is  the  teacher's  function  to  deal  not 
simply  with  the  steps  on  the  way  but  to  lead  the  pupils 


THE   DIRECTION   OF   STUDY  273 

to  the  altitudes  whence  the  broad  panorama  of  knowledge 
can  be  seen.  The  true  teacher  docs  nol  drive  but  leads. 
Pupils  will  gladly  follow  a  teacher  whose  insight  and  in- 
genuity unfold  beauties  and  possibilities  and  analogies 
that  the  untrained  mind  cannot  discover.  The  next 
day's  lesson,  therefore,  must  be  attractively  announced. 
It  should  be  a  natural  advance  upon  to-day's  discoveries. 
The  teacher  must  map  out  the  new  lesson  carefully  and 
prepare  for  it  with  every  pupil  in  mind.  Such  prepara- 
tion takes  time  and  talent,  but  it  is  just  as  exhilarating  as 
preparing  a  party  for  an  Alpine  climb.  An  unprepared 
guide  means  a  hazardous  and  fatal  climb;  an  unpre- 
pared teacher  means  an  unprepared,  failing,  and  dis- 
couraged class. 

For  this  reason,  the  time  of  the  assignment  is  important. 
In  many  schools  the  custom  is  to  assign  the  lesson  cither 
at  the  beginning  or  at  the  close  of  the  hour.  A  better 
pedagogical  method  would  be  to  assign  the  lesson  in  the 
midst  of  a  recitation  where  some  point  is  discussed  and  a 
new  problem  arises.  In  this  way  the  pupil  sees  the  mean- 
ing of  the  new  task.  Moreover,  the  lesson  will  be  at- 
tractive because  it  challenges  his  power  of  discovery. 
Lessons  so  introduced  will  be  effectively  and  earnestly 
studied. 

The  Study  Period. — The  increasing  emphasis  on  the 
study  period — now  notable — indicates  that  the  high 
school  recognizes  the  need  of  controlling  the  environment 
and  methods  of  the  pupils  at  work.  The  time  may  come 
when  teachers  will  do  less  class  teaching  and  more  "  edu- 
cational guidance"  during  the  study  period.  Perhaps 
it  is  true,  as  stated  in  the  Briggs  report  already  referred 
to,  that  at  present  there  is  too  much  teaching.  Sutton 
and  Horn  believe  that  a  properly  arranged  daily  schedule 


274  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

provides  for  the  alternation  of  recitation  periods  and 
study  periods.  While  it  is  generally  understood  that 
teachers  should  prepare  for  the  former,  although  fre- 
quently they  do  not,  it  is  not  so  well  recognized  that 
teachers  should  prepare  for  the  latter. 

Management  of  the  Study  Period. — These  authors 
suggest  that  in  preparing  for  the  study  period  the 
teacher  should  have  the  aim  to  be  accomplished  during 
each  of  these  periods  clearly  conceived.  After  a  recita- 
tion dealing  with  the  development  of  a  new  truth  the 
pupils  might  spend  their  time  in  studying  the  same 
topic  as  treated  by  the  text-book  and  by  the  teacher. 
For  this  reason,  the  materials  to  be  used  should  be 
carefully  selected.  The  study  period  should  be  de- 
voted to  work  of  real  value.  Mere  study  as  an  exercise 
in  discipline  is  valueless  unless  in  connection  with  it  a 
distinct  purpose  of  objective  achievement  exists.  The 
sifting  and  marking  of  the  study  exercises  require  sound 
judgment  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  involving  not  only 
the  evaluation  of  material  from  the  standpoint  of  ad- 
vancement of  subject-matter  but  also  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  advancement  of  the  pupils.  Several  study  groups, 
for  instance,  may  not  be  aiming  at  the  same  accomplish- 
ment. What  is  useful  for  one  group  would  not  be  for 
others. 

It  is  important  also  that  the  subject-matter  bear 
on  some  course  of  study  with  which  the  pupil  is  then 
engaged.  Recitation  period  and  study  period  should 
be  interlaced — the  one  supplying  contents  and  the  other 
increasing  interest.  Again,  the  teacher  should  also  use 
judgment  as  to  the  amount  of  work  assigned.  It  is  ob- 
viously useless  to  require  more  than  can  well  be  pre- 
pared and  yet  teachers  often  have  so  little  conception 


THE   DIRECTION   OF   STUDY  275 

of  what  a  pupil  can  do  that  they  assign  impossible 
lessons. 

Plans  of  Supervised  Study. — Originality  here  as  else- 
where in  school  work  is  desirable.  In  the  East  Technical 
High  School  of  Cleveland, O.,  the  study  period  is  distinctly 
social.  "  No  rooms  for  the  seating  of  pupils  by  classes  were 
provided,  but  there  were  about  fifty  rooms  with  a  seating 
capacity  of  thirty  each,  to  which  pupils  have  been  assigned 
on  coming  to  the  school  for  the  first  time.  This  assignment 
is  maintained  throughout  the  pupil's  course  and  has  a 
neighborhood  basis.  After  a  time  this  serves  to  promote 
and  utilize  the  'gang  motive'.  .  .  Thus,  on  entering  the 
Technical  High  School,  boys  coming  from  the  Columbia 
Grammar  School  are  always  assigned  to  Room  105  and 
thenceforth  are  known  as  Mr.  Meek's  boys.  In  the  same 
way  the  girls  from  the  Columbia  School  are  assigned  an- 
nually to  Room  207  and  are  known  as  Miss  King's  girls. 
Two  or  three  schools  sending  small  numbers  to  the  high 
school  each  year  are  combined.  To  preserve  democ- 
racy, unlike  neighborhoods  are  fused  and  it  is  so  arranged 
that  about  ten  or  twelve  new  pupils  are  added  each  year. 
In  the  case  of  a  single  school  sending  large  numbers 
yearly  sometimes  a  division  is  made.  Thus  the  Bolton 
school  has  two  rooms  for  boys  and  one  for  girls  to  take 
care  of  the  large  numbers  entering  the  high  school  from 
this  district."  These  rooms  are  for  supervised  study 
only — not  for  recitations. 

Various  plans  have  been  devised  for  properly  adjusting 
the  study  period  to  the  recitation  hour.  In  Joliet,  111., 
a  two-hour  period  in  algebra,  geometry,  foreign  lan- 
guages, and  the  sciences  has  been  found  effective.  An 
extreme  method  of  procedure  is  in  operation  in  Colum- 
bia, Mo.,  where  the  recitation  has  been  dispensed  with 


276  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

and  students  are  given  various  problems  to  solve  by 
means  of  supervised  research  during  school  hours.  The 
Newark  plan,  described  in  the  following  chapter,  retains 
the  recitation  but  provides  for  a  half-hour  study  period 
within  each  recitation  hour.  In  other  schools — Dekalb, 
111.,  being  typical  of  these — the  class  is  divided  into 
several  groups  supervised  by  competent  teachers,  who 
oversee  the  pupils  while  preparing  their  lessons.  In  still 
others  provision  is  made  for  studying  in  the  assembly- 
room,  which  is  supervised  by  teachers  in  turn,  there  being 
no  attempt  at  specific  guidance  of  an  expert  nature. 

Difficulties  of  Supervision. — The  proper  direction  of 
study  is  claiming  the  attention  of  wide-awake  principals 
and  superintendents.  One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  to 
be  overcome  is  the  arrangement  of  the  daily  schedule 
so  as  to  allow  the  proper  amount  of  time  for  this  super- 
vision in  an  already  crowded  programme.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  the  study  period  should  be  so  provided  for. 
As  will  be  seen  in  connection  with  the  conditions  of 
study,  pupils  vary  in  their  efficiency.  Whereas  study- 
ing may  be  quite  easy  to-day,  it  will  be  difficult  to- 
morrow. Weather,  temperature,  moods,  and  physical  con- 
dition affect  this  efficiency.  To  force  the  pupil  on  an  off 
day  to  spend  as  much  time  as  on  a  successful  day  is  mani- 
festly unpedagogical.  Some  educators  believe  that  the 
different  subjects  should  have  longer  or  shorter  periods. 

A  Feasible  Plan. — To  give  every  subject  the  same 
minimum  or  maximum  time  limit  is  unwise  from  the 
standpoint  of  study.  If  an  hour  be  devoted  to  mathe- 
matics, a  half -hour  might  well  be  spent  in  studying  and 
the  other  half-hour  to  a  simple  review  and  explanation. 
Hour  periods  in  English  would  enable  the  teacher  to  de- 
velop the  lesson  simply  and  tersely,  and  the  remainder 


THE   DIRECTION   OF   STUDY  L'77 

of  the  time  might  well  be  spent  in  individual  endeavor 
to  master  some  principle  or  elaborate  some  problem 
while  the  teacher  is  at  hand  to  make  suggestions.  In 
history  map  study,  arranging  tables  of  contemporaneous 
events,  tracing  causes  of  epochal  changes,  setting  the 
stage  of  some  great  battle  or  assembly  might  well  be  done 
in  the  quiet  of  an  hour  spent  in  a  room  furnished  with 
such  material  as  suggests  historical  thinking  and  per- 
spectives. Or,  if  this  hour  be  lengthened  for  mathe- 
matics, foreign  languages,  and  the  sciences,  part  of  this 
period  might  be  devoted  to  study. 

The  exact  amount  of  time  within  each  period  for  rec- 
itation and  for  study  will  be  determined  by  the  nature 
of  the  subject-matter.  The  value  of  this  arrangement 
lies  in  the  absence  of  so  much  desk  talk.  The  real  teach- 
ing will  be  done  not  en  masse  but  according  to  each  indi- 
vidual's capacity  to  learn.  Any  teacher  who  is  well 
prepared  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  subject  can 
outline  sufficient  new  material  in  fifteen  or  twenty  min- 
utes to  make  profitable  the  greater  part  of  the  recitation 
period  being  spent  in  economical  study. 

Another  advantage  of  this  plan  lies  in  its  compara- 
tively easy  adoption,  without  seriously  disarranging  the 
present  schedule.  The  time  required  for  making  shifts 
between  classes  could  be  recovered  by  adding  an  hour 
to  the  day's  programme.  With  the  partial  elimination 
of  home  study,  there  is  no  reason  why  pupils  should  not 
spend  another  hour  in  the  school,  where  studying  can  be 
done  economically,  both  as  to  time  and  mental  assimila- 
tion. The  teacher's  spare  time  during  unoccupied  hours 
might  be  devoted  to  the  correction  of  papers.  It  is 
probable  that  some  of  the  amount  of  time  now  spent  by 
pupils  in  writing  papers  for  the  teacher's  correction  would 


278  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

be  greatly  lessened  under  a  system  of  study  supervision 
and  also  that  such  supervision  would  greatly  reduce  the 
number  of  errors  that  now  are  the  bugbear  of  the,  teach- 
er's work. 

The  greatest  advantage  of  this  plan  is  the  provision  it 
makes  for  individual  differences  and  individual  fluctua- 
tions of  mental  receptivity.  Within  the  recitation  or 
study  period  the  teacher  can  so  arrange  the  work  that  no 
pupil  is  overstrained  mentally  or  physically.  The  fear 
of  not  knowing  the  lesson  is  reduced  if  not  wholly  re- 
moved. The  pupil's  desire  to  want  to  know  is  greatly 
stimulated.  At  present  the  pupil  is  apt  to  feel  that 
studying  is  an  arbitrary  and  lifeless  pursuit;  but  within 
a  period  charged  with  the  suggestive  power  of  many  in 
the  attitude  of  mental  effort,  and  realizing  the  possibility 
of  overcoming  difficulties  that  before  seemed  unsur- 
mountable,  the  pupil  will  be  constrained  to  respond  to 
the  utmost. 

Summary  of  Plans  for  Supervised  Study. — The  grow- 
ing interest  of  educators  in  the  supervision  of  study  is 
evinced  in  the  various  plans  already  discussed  and  in 
several  other  schemes,  a  list  of  which  is  herewith  given. 

i.  The  Assembly  or  Study  Hall. — Usually  this  type 
does  not  provide  for  real  supervision  of  the  individual 
student  while  he  studies,  but  in  many  schools  this  is  all 
that  is  meant  by  supervised  study. 

2.  The  Study  Coach. — Illustrations  of  this  plan  are 
Hillsdale  and  Jackson,  Mich.,  and  the  high  school  in 
Newark,  O.  Delinquent  and  indifferent  children  are 
referred  to  this  coach  for  special  instruction. 

3.  The  Detroit  Plan  of  Review  Groups.— Delinquents 
in  algebra  and  in  Latin  are  formed  into  special  groups  for 
review  work  together  with  the  regular  advanced  work. 


THE   DIRECTION   OF   STUDY  279 

4.  Newark  Plan. — Already  discussed  and  more  fully 
explained  in  the  next  chapter. 

5.  The  Joliet  Plan. — Already  discussed. 

6.  Supervised  Home-Study  Plan. — Proposed  by  Wm. 
C.  Reavis.  Pupils  are  expected  to  have  a  study  schedule 
for  home  or  school  study.  The  programme  or  study 
card  contains  directions  how  to  study. 

7.  Columbia  Plan. — Already  discussed. 

8.  DeKalb  Plan. — One  study  period  in  each  subject  a 
week. 

9.  Alameda  Plan. — No  home  study  at  all  but  in- 
stead periods  for  each  subject  in  the  regular  school 
programme. 

10.  East  Cleveland  Plan. — Already  discussed. 

11.  New  York  Plan. — One  fourth  of  the  pupil's  lesson 
must  be  supervised. 

12.  Batavia  Plan. 

13.  Pueblo  Plan. 

14.  Conference  Plans. 

In  order  to  ascertain  just  what  the  high  schools  are 
doing  in  the  way  of  supervising  study  the  writer  sent  out 
a  brief  questionnaire  to  976  high  schools  in  thirty-three 
States.  At  present  517  replies  have  been  received  from 
these  thirty-three  States.  The  following  questions  were 
asked : 

1.  Have  you  supervised  study  in  your  school? 

2.  How  long  have  you  had  supervised  study? 

3.  Please  state  which  of  the  following  methods  of 
study  supervision  you  use: 

(a)  A  period  in  assembly-room  presided  over  by  teach- 
ers in  turn. 

(b)  A  study  period  for  each  subject  supervised  by  the 
teacher  of  that  subject. 


280 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


(c)  Part  of  recitation  period  devoted  to  supervised 
study. 

(d)  The  Cleveland  plan  of  special  neighborhood  rooms. 

(e)  Personal  conference  at  stated  hours  (s)  ...  or  by 
appointment  (a). 

(/")  Any  plan  different  from  the  above. 

In  reply  to  the  first  question  383  answered  "Yes," 
60  "No,"  37  "Partly,"  and  37  gave  no  answer. 

Replies  to  the  second  question  range  all  the  way  from 
''  Three  months"  to  "Always."  From  the  replies  it 
seems  that  supervised  study  in  the  modern  sense  of  the 
term  has  not  been  in  use  very  long  in  most  schools. 

The  following  tables  furnish  additional  data.  Table  I 
shows  the  relation  between  the  last  five  replies  and  the 
first  two.  From  this  table  one  may  see  that  there  is  not 
a  consistent  notion  of  supervised  study  throughout  the 
replies: 

TABLE  I 


Number  out  of  517 
giving   answers    as 
below 

No.  answering 
"Yes,"  giving 
replies  as  be- 
low, out  of  383 

No.  answering 
"No,"  giving 
replies   as  be- 
low, out  of  60 

No.  answering 
"  Partly,"  giv- 
ing   replies   as 
below,  out  of  37 

No.  answering 
blank,    giving 
replies   as   be- 
low, out  of  37 

Number 

Per 
cent 

Num- 
ber 

Per  cent 

Num- 
ber 

Per  cent 

Num- 
ber 

Per  cent 

Num- 
ber 

Per  cent 

A  424 
B  74 
C  143 
E: 

Stated  229 
Appt'd  247 
Both  117 

82 

M 

28 

44 
48 

23 

327 

69 

109 

IQI 

I9S 

100 

85.6 

18. 

25.S 

49-8 

27.9 

34 

I 

12 

14 

6 

56.6 
.6 
20. 

2-3 

3-6 

.  1 

21 

I 

12 

9 

10 

4 

56.4 

•3 

32.4 

24  -3 

27. 
10.7 

26 
I 

7 

5 
6 

5 

70. 

•3 
18.9 

13  -5 

16.  2 

i3S 

In  the  third  column,  where  60  reply  that  they  have  no 
supervised  study,  12  answer  that  they  have  supervised 


THE   DIRECTION   OF   STUDY 


I'M 


study  within  the  recitation  period.  The  two  replies  are 
self-contradictory. 

The  replies  show  also  that  79  have  only  the  assembly 
hall  for  so-called  supervised  study.  Two  have  only  (b), 
5  have  only  (c),  7  have  only  the  stated  conference  hour, 
9  have  only  conferences  by  appointment,  and  8  provide 
for  conferences  both  statedly  and  occasionally. 

Table  II  shows  the  various  combinations  employed  by 
high  schools  in  dealing  with  this  problem.  The  letters 
refer  to  the  questions  cited  above. 


TABLE  II 


Number  having  only  the 

combinations  as  indicated 

ab 

7 

abc 

2 

ac 

17 

abs 

4 

as 

65 

aba 

aa 

72 

abe — both 

....    7 

ae — both  . 

57 

acs 

....  28 

be 

bs 

aca 

25 

2 

ace — both 

••••33 

ba 

be — both  . 

2 

bes 

bca 

3 

....    1 

cs 

4 

abes 

....    2 

ca 

3 

abca 

4 

ce — both 

2 

abce — both  

16 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  largest  number  have  the 
assembly  hall  and  the  occasional  conference.  Next 
come  the  assembly  hall  and  both  kinds  of  conference 
hours.  At  first  glance  it  seems  promising  that  33  high 
schools  include  a  modification  of  the  Newark  plan  in  their 
supervision  of  study,  but  several  of  these  33  mean  sim- 


282  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ply  a  more  extended  treatment  of  the  assignment.  The 
last  three  groups  are  more  promising. 

This  brief  summary  of  the  investigation  does  not  pre- 
tend to  offer  an  adequate  account  of  conditions  as  they 
obtain  in  the  high  schools.  It  merely  hints  at  what 
seems  to  exist  in  a  fairly  well  distributed  number  of 
schools.  Until  a  careful  investigation  into  the  actual 
results  in  the  classroom  has  been  made,  it  is  impossible 
to  say  definitely  what  the  high  schools  are  doing  in  the 
way  of  effective  study  supervision.  It  seems  safe  to 
conclude  from  this  brief  survey  that  at  present  there  is 
very  little  supervised  study  provided  for  in  our  secon- 
dary schools.  It  remains  to  examine  into  the  technic  of 
such  supervision  as  does  exist  and  into  the  recorded  re- 
sults of  supervised  study. 

How  to  Use  Books. — So  far  as  the  methods  of  study 
are  concerned,  the  chief  disadvantage  in  the  use  of  free 
texts  lies  in  the  pupil's  inability  to  mark  the  books  either 
by  underscoring  or  marginal  notation.  In  some  schools 
the  pupils  are  allowed  to  mark  the  books  with  a  very 
light  pencil,  the  markings  being  erased  by  the  pupils  at 
the  end  of  the  term.  A  course  in  such  a  use  of  books 
for  study  purposes  would  be  a  distinct  aid  to  good  study- 
ing. The  supplementing  of  the  text-book  by  inserted 
leaves,  pictures,  clippings,  marginal  citations,  outlines 
either  in  the  text  itself  or  on  a  page  pasted  in  the  book — 
these  are  some  of  the  devices  that  the  high  school  pupil 
should  be  taught. 

Reference  books,  supplemental  and  cultural  readings 
are  essential  for  that  broad  background  which  marks  the 
sweep  and  definiteness  of  successful  learning.  The  mere 
assignment  of  readings  is  insufficient.  Pupils  must  be 
taught  how  to  read.     A  wider  view-point  is  obtained  by 


THE   DIRECTION  OF   STUDY  283 

purposeful  reading.  For  this  reason  assignments  in  these 
"extra"  books  should  be  definite  and  pointed  as  to  topic, 
chapter,  and  page.  The  teacher,  moreover,  should  require 
every  pupil  to  note  in  detail  the  sources  of  information 
gleaned  from  outside  reading.  This  practice  will  be  of 
great  value  to  them  in  college  or  in  later  professional 
life  and  it  will  train  them  also  in  accuracy  of  informa- 
tion. 

The  teacher  will  make  these  readings  effective  if  she 
calls  attention  to  the  value  of  the  author's  contribution. 
The  beauty  of  the  contents,  the  circumstances  of  the 
composition,  and  items  of  biographical  interest  will  en- 
hance the  pupil's  interest  in  this  outside  reading.  In 
this  day  of  rapid  revision  of  school  literature  pupils 
should  be  impressed  with  the  need  of  such  revision,  with 
the  fact  that  information  limited  to  one  text-book  is  apt 
to  be  inaccurate  or  out  of  date.  For  this  reason  the 
comparison  of  text-books  is  helpful.  The  noting  of  dif- 
ferent points  of  view  on  a  problem  will  train  the  high 
school  pupil  to  compare  and  to  judge.  In  this  way  he 
will  be  trained  in  discerning  criticism  at  a  time  when  he 
is  apt  to  be  overcredulous. 

The  Function  of  Books  in  the  Technic  of  Study. — 
The  kinds  of  books  used  by  the  pupil  are  text,  reference, 
supplemental,  and  cultural  books.  Bagley  divides  text- 
books as  follows:  readers,  manuals,  or  handbooks  such  as 
arithmetic  and  grammar  texts  which  provide  a  minimum 
of  facts  and  principles  with  a  maximum  of  exercises  or 
problems  to  be  worked  out  by  the  pupils;  and  text-books 
proper,  such  as  geographies,  histories,  and  physiologies 
in  which  the  chief  aim  is  the  logical  and  systematic  set- 
ting forth  of  facts  and  principles.  Inasmuch  as  the 
pupil  handles  text-books  more  frequently   than  other 


284  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

kinds  of  books,  the  high  school  should  carefully  instruct 
him  in  the  use  of  these  tools.  Pupils  have  too  little  re- 
gard for  their  texts.  They  mishandle  them  in  various 
ways,  not  always  intentionally,  however.  Like  many 
older  people,  they  do  not  know  how  to  open  new  books. 
Librarians  are  agreed  that  books  should  be  opened  in  the 
following  manner:  place  the  new  book,  back  down  and 
the  two  covers  flat,  on  the  desk  or  table,  then  spread  out 
half  a  dozen  pages  at  a  time  alternating,  left  and  right, 
pressing  them  down  on  the  covers,  running  the  fingers 
along  the  " hinge"  of  the  book;  continue  this  until  the 
book  lies  open. 

Conditions  of  Effective  Studying. — Readers  of  biog- 
raphy and  autobiography  may  be  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  extraordinary  intellectual  feats  have  been  per- 
formed by  men  and  women  in  what  at  first  seems  to  have 
been  unpropitious  circumstances.  In  some  instances  the 
conditions  appeared  wholly  inadequate  for  fine  mental 
work.  While  this  is  true  one  finds  that  there  were  also 
certain  conditions  in  these  same  cases  that  made  possi- 
ble brilliant  authorship  and  scientific  victories.  It  also 
is  true  that  if  the  conditions  had  been  more  favorable 
many  of  these  intellectual  producers  might  have  lived 
longer  and  produced  a  larger  number  of  things  worth 
while  for  mankind.  It  is  important  that  the  high 
school  recognize  certain  conditions  that  will  greatly  ad- 
vance the  pupil's  efficiency. 

Incentives. — Gedinhagen  makes  the  following  divi- 
sion of  incentives,  the  artificial  and  the  natural.  Under 
the  artificial  incentives  he  places  prizes,  medals,  and 
class  honors;  privileges,  holidays,  and  honor  seats;  im- 
munities and  exemptions  from  certain  tasks.  Under  the 
natural  incentives  he  includes  desire  for  good  standing, 


THE   DIRECTION   OF   STUDY  285 

desire  for  approbation,  desire  for  knowledge,  desire  for 
efficiency,  desire  for  self-control  and  for  future  good, 
and  a  sense  of  honor,  right,  and  duty.  It  will  not  be 
doubted  that  effective  studying  requires  constant  incen- 
tives of  some  sort.  The  way  of  learning  is  often  steep 
and  discouraging  even  in  high  school  and  can  be  made 
possible  only  by  some  all-powerful  motive  in  the  form 
of  a  dominant  incentive  supplied  in  part  by  the  teacher. 
The  incentives  referred  to  may  or  may  not  have  intrin- 
sic worth  apart  from  their  power  to  function  as  stimuli 
for  the  best  effort.  Within  their  well-defined  limits, 
however,  they  can  be  used  by  the  school  as  powerful 
means  of  inspiring  the  pupils  to  be  faithful  to  their 
tasks.  Biography  refers  to  other  incentives  which  per- 
haps are  less  evident  in  the  high  school.  Grief  and 
disappointment,  sickness,  poverty,  romance,  and  past 
experience — all  count  significantly  in  the  pupil's  school 
life.  If  the  teacher  could  ascertain  some  of  these  usually 
concealed  conditions  they  could  be  made  forceful  agen- 
cies in  a  concentrated  and  ambitious  life  of  study.  Here 
as  throughout  his  or  her  career  the  teacher  must  know 
the  pupil  as  a  friend.  The  appeal  to  the  individual  is 
possible  only  when  we  know  his  individual  problems. 

The  Study  Room. — Again  we  find  that  masterpieces 
have  been  evolved  in  dismal,  barren,  ugly  huts  and  that 
the  splendors  of  fabulous  wealth  may  strangle  intellectual 
ardor.  But  this  is  no  reason  for  neglecting  the  care  of  the 
young  pupil's  workshop.  It  is  important  that  the  pupil 
be  surrounded  with  such  influences  as  will  bring  forth  his 
noblest  and  most  vigorous  self.  Investigations  in  the 
field  of  school  hygiene  are  at  present  confined  to  the 
structure  and  arrangement  of  school  buildings  and  the 
life  of  the  pupils  in  these  buildings.     It  is  necessary,  how- 


286  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ever,  that  these  investigations  extend  so  as  to  include  the 
life  of  the  pupil  everywhere.  The  pupil's  room,  whether 
in  school  or  at  home,  should  be  intelligently  supervised. 

Competent  investigators  have  found  that  for  effective 
day  illumination  the  pupil's  study  table  should  be  near 
the  window  and  should  be  so  placed  that  the  light  falls 
over  his  left  shoulder.  If  the  window  faces  a  busy  street 
the  lower  part  should  be  translucent.  The  light  should 
always  be  subdued,  for  brilliant  sunshine  will  eventu- 
ally weaken  the  strongest  eyes.  Usually  shades  of 
medium  green  or  yellow  are  sufficient  for  the  proper 
dilution  of  light.  In  schoolrooms  Shaw  suggests  that 
light-green  tints  are  to  be  preferred  for  the  walls.  Red 
and  other  deep  tones  should  be  avoided.  In  the  school- 
room as  well  as  at  home  the  light  thus  diluted  by  windows 
and  walls  should  still  be  strong  enough  to  enable  the 
pupil  to  read  diamond  type  sixteen  inches  from  the  eyes. 
Care  should  be  taken  to  prevent  any  reflection  from  the 
blackboards  or  surfaces  of  the  desks.  The  well-prepared 
teacher  will  know  how  the  light  falls  from  every  angle 
and  every  seat  in  the  room. 

Of  equal  importance  is  the  temperature  of  the  room. 
Perhaps  most  young  people  are  more  apt  to  have  their 
rooms  too  warm  than  too  cold.  For  general  work  650  to 
68°  is  ample.  Rooms  that  are  too  warm  produce  drow- 
siness, which,  of  course,  destroys  concentration.  Where 
stoves  are  used  the  atmosphere  will  be  heavy  unless  ven- 
tilation provides  for  continually  renewed  air.  If  cir- 
cumstances do  not  allow  a  scientific  ventilation  system, 
the  next  best  device  is  to  have  the  windows  open  about 
nine  inches  from  the  top.  In  a  recent  comparison  be- 
tween pupils  in  a  closed-window  schoolroom  and  those 
in  an  opened-window  room  in  Philadelphia  it  was  found 


THE   DIRECTION   OF   STUDY  287 

that  the  class  in  the  latter  surpassed  the  former  in  almost 
every  test.  The  temperature  of  the  closed  room  averaged 
68°,  while  in  the  open  room  the  temperature  was  470. 

It  may  be  difficult  to  provide  the  foregoing  conditions 
in  many  homes.  Doubtless  a  tactful  principal  or  teacher 
can  create  a  sentiment  in  favor  of  these  conditions.  As 
long  as  home  study  continues  to  occupy  the  place  it  does, 
it  is  necessary  that  the  high  school  attempt  some  super- 
vision of  the  pupil's  room  conditions  at  home.  Legisla- 
tion now  provides  for  adequate  plumbing  conditions. 
Pure-food  laws  protect  us  against  old  and  unhealthful 
food.  Milk  and  dairy  products  are  inspected.  It  is 
equally  important  that  the  habitat  of  the  pupil  be  in- 
spected so  as  to  conserve  those  conditions  that  will 
make  him  mentally  efficient.  To  do  this  at  present  is 
obviously  delicate.  But  the  school  authorities  as  ser- 
vants of  society  should  have  the  right  to  insist  on  such 
conditions  as  economize  the  pupil's  time  and  strength. 
The  school  board  can  well  add  this  to  its  other  duties. 
In  the  meantime,  frequent  references  to  these  hygienic 
needs  can  be  made  at  the  school  assembly  or  by  each 
teacher  during  the  recitation  while  she  is  attending  to 
similar  conditions  in  the  classroom.  Where  the  school  at 
present  cannot  legally  control  it  can  at  least  suggest  and 
practise  its  own  suggestions. 

The  Amount  of  Time  for  Sleep. — The  following  table 
by  Doctor  Dukes  indicates  the  amount  of  sleep  pupils 
at  different  ages  require: 

No.  of  Hours 
Age  Sleep  Required 

12-14  •  •  •  • IO<^ 

14-16 IO 

16-18 9'A 

18-19 9 


288  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Frequent  relaxation  is  vital  during  the  adolescent  period. 
Sound  sleep  and  plenty  of  it  furnishes  this  relaxa- 
tion. High  school  authorities  should  insist  on  this  im- 
portant condition  of  good  studying.  Nervous  troubles 
from  various  causes  are  best  cured  by  the  rest  and  relaxa- 
tion obtained  in  this  way.  Not  infrequently  high  school 
pupils  become  nervously  depleted  from  overwork.  Timid 
but  conscientious  pupils  often  try  to  meet  high  standards 
of  scholarship  and  in  the  attempt  lose  needful  relaxation. 
The  appalling  amount  of  incipient  tuberculosis  among 
young  people  is  alarming  investigators  in  some  of  our 
larger  school  systems.  The  causes,  to  be  sure,  are  not 
wholly  within  the  field  of  overstudy  and  consequent  in- 
sufficiency of  sleep;  but  enough  of  them  are  to  make  it 
necessary  for  the  high  school  to  warn  and  guard  its  pupils 
against  such  pastimes  and  overindulgence  in  late  study- 
ing as  will  shorten  the  amount  of  sleep  necessary  for  a 
well-toned  and  keen  mentality  and  vigorous  physical 
condition. 

The  General  Condition  of  Health. — Good  mental  effort 
depends  on  the  conservation  of  physical  health.  Good 
health,  in  turn  depends,  upon  a  large  intake  of  energy  and 
a  large  outgo  of  energy.  Dearborn  says:  "The  balance 
of  enjoyment  in  suitable  hard  work  has  its  primary 
ground  certainly  in  good  health,  viewed  especially  as 
normal  metabolism  with  normal  assimilation  and  dis- 
similation— good  nutrition  balancing  good  excretion." 
High  school  boys  and  girls  should  be  in  the  pink  of 
condition.  Euphoria  should  mark  the  individuality  of 
these  future  citizens  whose  sane  optimism  will  prove 
invaluable  to  the  State.  Some  one  has  said  that  the 
personal  devil  is  worry.  When  one  sees  the  gloom  of 
anxiety  settling  upon   the  faces  of  high  school  pupils 


THE   DIRECTION  OF  STUDY  289 

it  is  unreasonable  to  expect  the  finest-toned  mental 
effort.  Between  the  two,  mental  health,  perhaps,  re- 
quires more  attention  than  physical.  The  former  is 
more  insidious  in  its  encroachments,  its  symptoms  arc 
less  generally  understood,  and  its  causes  are  deemed 
trivial  or  no  causes  at  all.  Here  is  one  of  the  great 
functions  of  the  high  school— to  protect  the  mental 
health  of  its  members. 

That  school  authorities  are  mindful  of  this  need  is 
assured  in  the  attention  given  to  proper  rest  rooms  and 
to  the  lunch  hour  and  the  cafeterias.  In  Santa  Monica, 
Cal.,  the  principal  of  the  high  school  has  placed  the 
limit  for  high  school  lunches  at  twenty  cents.  The 
rule  was  made  because  of  the  tendency  to  overeat, 
which  caused  dulness  and  lassitude  on  the  part  of  the 
pupils  and  in  this  way  interfered  with  good  work. 
In  Cleveland,  O.,  the  medical  inspector  of  the  schools 
has  provided  for  penny  lunches  to  counteract  the  habit 
of  buying  cheap  and  harmful  penny  candy.  The  time  of 
eating  is  just  as  important  as  the  kind  of  eating.  The 
length  of  the  lunch  hour  in  many  schools  is  all  too  short. 
Whipple  suggests  that  it  should  be  at  least  two  hours. 

The  foregoing  conditions  as  well  as  others  that  cannot 
be  discussed  are  essential  to  the  best  efforts  among  the 
population  of  the  high  school.  Good  studying  depends 
very  largely  on  these  conditions.  Attention  to  them 
should  be  provided  for  in  all  the  curriculums  of  the  high 
school.  Much  of  our  "curriculum  thinking"  would  be 
clearer  and  more  effective  if  the  school  studied  not  sim- 
ply the  social  efficiency  of  the  pupils,  through  well- 
arranged  programmes  and  well-developed  technic  of 
teaching,  but  studied  as  well  the  technic  of  study.  The 
community  rightly  expects  that  in  the  high  school  citi- 


290  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

zens  will  be  developed  who  can  readily  adjust  themselves 
to  any  situation.  They  must  acquire  this  intellectual 
habit  through  a  proper  direction  of  the  technic  of  study. 

Hindrances  to  Effective  Studying. — There  is  space 
here  to  select  only  two  or  three  of  the  hindrances  that 
are  most  common.  Poor  health  and  fatigue  are  gener- 
ally recognized  as  hindrances.  Closely  connected  with 
fatigue  but  frequently  quite  different  in  its  nature  is 

Laziness. — The  lazy  pupil  is  usually  in  bad  standing 
with  the  school  authorities.  H.  Addington  Bruce  de- 
scribes laziness  as  follows:  "There  is  a  perpetual  waste 
of  time,  dawdling,  loitering,  gossiping,  a  seeming  passion 
for  the  ways  of  slothful  ease  and  aversion  from  sustained 
endeavor."  No  doubt  all  of  us,  if  honest,  would  confess 
that  we  agree  with  Agnes  Repplier:  "I  cannot  sympa- 
thize with  the  noble  theory  that  every  man  and  woman 
should  do  their  share  of  the  world's  work.  I  would 
gladly  shirk  my  own  if  I  could."  The  lazy  person, 
whether  in  school  or  in  the  world,  is  so  generally  dis- 
counted that  we  must  look  into  some  phases  of  this 
problem  as  it  is  related  to  the  high  school  pupil's  atti- 
tude toward  studying. 

The  chief  cause  of  laziness  is  infirmity  of  the  will.  Lazi- 
ness may  be  associated  with  a  debilitated  condition  of  the 
nervous  system,  an  asthenic  condition  accompanied  by 
slow  heart-beat,  slow  arterial  pressure,  and  poor  circu- 
lation. The  consequence,  says  Ribot,  is  that  the  brain 
shows  not  so  much  an  indisposition  as  a  real  incapacity 
for  concentrating  attention  and  soon,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  its  nourishment  is  at  the  vanishing-point,  becomes 
exhausted.  Laziness  among  very  young  school  children 
is  caused  very  largely  by  adenoids  or  abnormal  tissue 
growths  in  the  cavity  back  of  the  nose. 

Another  cause  is  far-sightedness.     Any  bodily  defect 


THE   DIRECTION   OF   STUDY  291 

tending  to  impose  excessive  strain  on  the  nervous  system 
tends  to  produce  an  asthenic  condition  with  accompany- 
ing apathy  and  indolence  and  may  lead  to  habitual  un- 
conscious idleness.  Doctor  Maurice  de  Fleury  looks 
upon  lazy  people  as  neuropaths  afflicted  with  malfunc- 
tioning of  the  brain.  "The  longer  a  man  has  been  an 
idler  the  more  deeply  rooted,  of  course,  will  be  his  sub- 
conscious conviction  that  exertion  is  impossible  to  him; 
but  once  this  conviction  is  broken  down  he  will  find 
that  he  can  work  and  to  good  purpose." 

Laziness  may  be  due,  also,  to  reaction  from  some  round 
of  pleasure  the  day  before.  It  may  be  caused  by  over- 
eating. A  normal  lack  of  interest  in  a  subject  may  mani- 
fest itself  as  laziness.  Pupils  deficient  in  one  subject  may 
be  even  brilliant  in  other  classes.  Because  inferior  in 
mathematics  a  pupil  may  be  judged  a  shirk  and  conse- 
quently be  marked  low.  The  facts  may  be,  however, 
that  the  pupil  has  no  natural  aptitude  for  this  subject 
and  applies  himself  only  half-heartedly,  with  the  result- 
ing stigma  of  being  called  lazy  in  mathematics.  Mani- 
festly, care  should  be  taken  in  the  use  of  this  term. 

Again,  the  pupil's  room  conditions  may  be  a  direct 
cause  of  his  laziness.  Overheated  or  poorly  ventilated 
rooms  are  unsuitable  for  keen  mental  effort.  Failure  to 
keep  the  room  clean  may  cause  sluggish  mental  work. 
Rooms  overfurnished,  stuffy  with  the  typical  parapher- 
nalia of  modern  acolytes  of  wisdom — veritable  deposi- 
tories of  the  spoils  of  barbarous  conflicts  and  indulgences 
— weary  the  nerves  and  cause  distractions. 

Many  pupils  prefer  to  lounge  when  they  study. 
Lying  back  in  an  easy  chair  makes  note  taking  difficult 
and  also  undesirable.  While  indulging  in  the  ease  of  this 
posture  of  relaxation  the  pupil  cultivates  a  lazy  attitude 
toward  his  work.     One  sees  frequently  in  the  classroom 


292  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

pupils  sitting  in  a  slovenly,  indifferent  posture.  The 
pupil  does  not  have  the  proper  setting  for  his  work.  His 
whole  attitude  suggests  to  him  indifference  and  indolence. 
Teachers  should  never  permit  such  conditions  in  the 
classroom.  Pupils  should  be  warned  against  becoming 
round-shouldered,  hollow-chested,  and  low-spirited.  Just 
as  the  soldier  must  obey  the  command,  "Attention,"  by 
assuming  a  posture  that  signifies  alert  readiness  for 
action,  so  the  pupil  while  at  work  must  be  ready  for 
mental  action  by  assuming  postures  that  help  him  to 
concentrate  upon  his  lessons. 

Mind-Wandering. — The  prevailing  defect  of  mind- 
wandering  is  another  phase  of  the  pupil's  lack  of  alertness. 
Distractions  in  the  form  of  memories,  plans  for  social 
affairs,  noises,  diverting  activities  in  the  street  or  in  the 
room,  poor  light,  bad  ventilation,  small  type,  obscure 
meanings  in  the  assignment,  general  indifference  toward 
the  subject — all  of  these  or  any  one  of  these  may  cause 
mind-wandering.  It  may  become  chronic  and  well-nigh 
incurable.  Stern  discipline  controlled  in  the  supervised 
study  peri'od  will  aid  in  the  curing  of  it.  The  method 
of  discipline,  however,  must  be  determined  by  the  nature 
of  the  case. 

The  Social  Appeal  of  the  High  School  Through  Study. 
— Together  with  the  searching  investigation  of  the  high 
school  programme  of  studies  and  the  most  efficient  ad- 
ministration and  teaching  of  these  subjects,  the  high 
school  expert  must  provide  for  an  adequate  supervision  of 
the  pupil's  methods  of  work.  This  field,  unfortunately, 
has  been  neglected  in  the  past.  Apparently  it  mattered 
very  little  how  pupils  studied.  If  they  knew  their  les- 
sons no  questions  were  asked.  If  they  came  unprepared 
demerits  and  frowns  and  various  penalties  were  the  re- 
sult.    With  the  enlargement  of  experiments  in  the  field 


THE   DIRECTION  OF  STUDY  293 

of  educational  psychology  the  mental  habits  of  all  who 
study  are  receiving  careful  and  scientific  attention.  The 
how  of  study  is  coming  to  be  just  as  important  as  the 
what  of  study.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  as  progress  is 
made  in  the  understanding  of  how  the  brain  functions 
the  contents  of  the  school  programme  will  undergo 
a  thorough  revision.  In  the  various  differentiated  high 
school  curriculums  a  large  place  should  be  given  not  only 
to  the  supervision  of  study,  but  there  should  be  a  course 
devoted  to  this  important  phase  of  education.  We  need 
teachers  of  study  as  much  as  we  need  teachers  of  English. 
In  normal  schools  and  schools  of  education  the  technic 
of  study  deserves  as  much  emphasis  as  the  technic  of 
teaching.  It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  a  few  normal 
schools  and  universities  are  already  making  this  em- 
phasis. 

The  pupil  is  in  school  because  society  must  have 
trained  citizenship.  But  mere  knowledge  of  a  pre- 
scribed amount  of  subject-matter  is  insufficient.  The 
future  citizen  must  know  how  to  use  his  mental  powers 
economically.  He  will  be  called  upon  to  make  sudden 
and  critical  adjustments.  Much  of  his  success  will  de- 
pend on  perspicuity,  the  ability  to  analyze  and  synthe- 
size new  situations  and  facts.  A  controlled  mental  life  is 
the  indispensable  medium  through  which  society  will 
derive  benefit  from  its  educated  sons  and  daughters. 
Mere  learning  may  make  a  man  mad.  Learning,  together 
with  a  knowledge  of  how  it  was  acquired  and  how  in  a 
similar  way  other  facts  can  be  assimilated — this  surely 
is  the  heart  of  wisdom.  Civic  problems,  industrial  diffi- 
culties, professional  policies,  and  personal  adjustments 
demand  experts  who  can  save  time,  strength,  and  money 
by  means  of  mental  skill. 

In  the  high  school  every  boy  and  girl,  whether  they 


294  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ever  enter  college  or  not,  should  receive  mental  gui- 
dance adequate  to  make  their  careers  more  quickly  suc- 
cessful and  more  permanently  effective.  Not  only  this. 
At  present  many  boys  and  girls  of  adolescent  age  fall 
by  the  wayside.  It  is  a  tragic  mistake  to  lay  all  the 
blame  for  this  condition  on  weak  mentality  or  a  dis- 
ordered economic  state.  Many  of  these  young  people 
leave  high  school  for  pecuniary  reasons.  But  there  are 
numbers  who  leave  because  of  discouragement,  neglect, 
timidity — in  a  word,  because  they  failed  to  meet  class- 
room requirement  and  because  no  effective  attempt  was 
made  to  guide  them  into  an  encouraging  use  of  their 
mental  powers.  Here  is  a  great  waste  of  intellectual 
equipment  that  society  ought  to  have  at  its  disposal. 

Society  must  require  of  its  high  schools  and  of  all  edu- 
cational institutions  the  fitting  of  every  individual  to  the 
maximum  of  his  mental  capacity.  Anything  less  than  this 
means  waste  of  money,  of  time,  of  life  itself.  If  the  host 
of  children  and  young  people  in  American  schools  to-day 
could  be  taught  how  to  study,  how  to  use  their  intellects, 
how  to  master  quickly  and  with  skill  all  of  those  prob- 
lems which  at  present  occupy  so  much  time  in  the  school 
year  it  would  be  possible  to  give  each  boy  and  girl  a  real 
vocational  preparation  and  send  them  forth  ready  for 
effective  service  at  a  time  when  large  numbers  are  now 
battling  with  new  conditions  in  the  first  year  of  the  high 
school.  In  fact,  the  essence  of  vocational  preparation 
will  be  this  power  to  use  the  mind  not  only  in  a  specific 
field  of  service  but  in  allied  fields  or  in  the  community 
at  large.  To  accomplish  this,  programmes  of  study  and 
school  administration  must  be  organized  around  the  all- 
essential  problem  of  the  technic  of  study. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  SOCIAL  VALUE   OF  SCHOOL  STUDY  VERSUS  HOME 

STUDY 

William  Wiener,  Ph.B. 

principal  of  central  commercial  and  manual  training  high  51  !!•  n  >!., 
newark,  n.  j. 

Home  Study  Reform  Needed. — School  should  be  but 
an  extension  of  the  ideal  home.  As  such  it  should  take 
into  consideration  the  physical  as  wel  as  the  mental  wel- 
fare of  the  child.  It  should  promote,  control,  and  guide, 
as  would  the  considerate  parent,  every  activity  and  c\U  irt, 
so  that  nerve  energy  is  properly  directed  toward  husband- 
ing intellectual  power  and  manual  effort  for  the  crises 
that  in  the  child's  future  experiences  demand  efficiency. 
Children,  as  spontaneous  critics  of  customs  and  methods, 
intuitively  discover  in  them  sometimes  unnoticed  foibles 
and  weaknesses.  What  child,  though  it  is  willing  to 
learn,  does  not  feel  the  tyranny  of  the  school  which  forces 
it  after  hours  to  devote  unlimited  time  to  extra  study 
work  on  lessons,  often  without  apparent  compensation? 
It  is  time,  then,  that  we  awaken  to  the  fact  that  the 
school  has  not  been  doing  all  it  could  to  make  itself  home- 
like. No  parent  would  knowingly  allow  his  children  to 
be  tortured  by  long  hours  of  home  study  if  he  saw  a  way 
out  of  this  "blind  thought  alley"  which  is  robbing  the 
children  of  the  present  and  future  generations  of  their 

295 


296  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

heritage  of  health  and  right  to  other  kinds  of  home 
associations. 

Traditional  Methods  of  Home  Study. — Traditional 
methods,  college  requirements,  inflexible  syllabi;  and 
courses  of  study  not  based  upon  the  reasonable  expendi- 
ture of  physical  and  mental  powers  of  secondary  school 
children  have  been  largely  responsible  in  continuing  this 
inhumane  abuse  of  long  study  periods  outside  of  school 
hours.  The  high  schools  have  not  as  yet  determined 
for  themselves,  independent  of  the  college-requirement 
goal,  the  amount  of  mental  and  physical  wear  and  tear 
the  average  pupil  can,  without  harm  and  strain  to  him- 
self, stand.  When  this  limit  is  fixed,  one  can  depend 
upon  it  that  physical  and  intellectual  life  will  be  con- 
served and  prolonged  for  the  universal  benefit.  A  way 
to  find  this  limit  is  suggested  by  the  method  of  home- 
study  reform  carried  on  at  the  Central  Commercial  and 
Manual  Training  High  School  of  Newark,  N.  J.  We 
hope  to  be  able  to  decide  in  the  course  of  our  experi- 
ence and  to  fix  definitely  through  our  home-study  reform 
method  the  amount  of  work  with  the  minimum  home 
study  a  child  can,  under  normal  conditions,  accomplish. 
It  is  possible  that  an  attempt  may  be  made  later  to  learn 
through  experiment  what  can  be  accomplished  if  all  the 
work  of  the  school  be  done  at  the  school.  As  the  child 
becomes  accustomed  to  our  present  method  he  requires 
less  looking  after  and  is  more  able  to  stand  alone  and 
effectively  direct  his  efforts  through  his  own  intelligence. 
In  fact,  the  real  test  which  this  method  has  thus  far  met 
is  the  added  ability  of  the  child  to  do  or  to  accomplish 
set  tasks  without  waste  of  effort. 

It  is  a  principle  of  economic  consideration  for  commer- 
cial, manufacturing,  and  even  theoretical  processes  to 


SCHOOL   STUDY   VERSUS   HOME   STUDY       L".>7 

have  the  efficiency  factor  in  them  always  at  its  maximum. 
To  secure  such  a  condition,  it  has  been  found  necessary 
to  institute  experimental  research  along  commercial, 
manufacturing,  and  theoretical  lines. 

But  education,  because  of  its  theoretical  and  more  or 
less  intangible  character,  has  conservatively  withstood 
many  of  the  suggested  "efficiency  propositions,"  having 
been  self-satisfied  with  the  limited  efficiency  results 
obtained.  It  is  hoped  that  it  will  become  the  future  gen 
eral  educational  policy  to  be  on  the  alert  for  that  which 
will  mean  progress  and  efficiency. 

Efficiency  and  Humanity  in  School  Policy.  With  effi- 
ciency and  humanity  in  school  policy  as  its  guide,  the 
Newark  home-study  reform  plan  marks  a  radical  depar- 
ture from  traditional  methods,  since  it  makes  the  general 
welfare  of  the  child  absolutely  the  all-important  issue  and 
influence  in  the  school  curriculum.  The  most  important 
asset  of  any  community  is  the  child.  When  the  fullesl 
development  of  this  asset  is  not  obtained  there  is,  there- 
fore, unnecessary  waste  of  most  precious  material. 

Conference  Period  for  Home  Study. — As  the  school  is 
the. educational  workshop,  generally  speaking,  it  should 
be  the  place  where  the  work  of  the  school  is  done.  It  is 
a  fact  that  many  children  do  not  have  the  proper  envi- 
ronment for  home  study.  By  this  arrangement  fitting 
and  inspiring  environment  for  study  is  offered  under  the 
guidance  of  the  "special-subject"  teachers.  Besides,  it 
is  known  that  under  certain  conditions  it  is  a  physical 
impossibility  to  do  all  the  school  tasks  at  the  school;  but 
it  has  been  clearly  demonstrated  in  Newark  that  the 
period  of  home  study  has  been  materially  reduced  in 
amount  for  the  average  pupil  and  altogether  eliminated 
for  the  more  brilliant  scholars. 


298  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Methods    and    Division    of    the    School    Day. — The 

method  involves  a  novel  distribution  of  the  school  time 
among  the  different  subjects  treated  in  the  curriculum. 
It  differs  during  these  periods  from  the  usual  system  of 
time  division  by  the  fact  that  each  subject  is  offered  to 
the  pupil  under  the  best  possible  condition.  This 
method  gives  the  opportunity  for  judiciously  directed 
study  by  the  teacher  of  his  subject  in  the  atmosphere  of 
the  subject.  The  consequent  psychological  advantages 
are  evident.  The  day's  work  begins  at  8.30  with  a  five- 
minute  written  exercise  in  spelling.  Then  follow  the 
morning  exercises,  and  at  9  A.  m.  begin  the  daily  recita- 
tions, with  five-minute  intervals  between  recitations. 
The  recitation  periods  were  formerly,  under  the  ideal 
working  of  the  plan,  a  full  hour  in  length  and  only  five 
in  number.  Now,  because  of  the  increased  number  of 
pupils,  there  are  six  periods,  each  fifty  minutes  in  length. 
They  are  divided  into  approximately  two  equal  parts. 
The  first  portion  consists  of  the  usual  type  of  formal 
recitation,  while  the  second  is  a  study  conference  period 
with  the  teacher  of  the  subject.  The  teacher  of  a  sub- 
ject is  present  with  his  pupils,  ready  to  aid  by  thought- 
producing  suggestions.  In  the  short  study  conference 
period,  preceding  which  the  recitation  sets  the  "swing 
of  the  subject"  in  the  pupils'  minds,  the  student  is  able, 
because  of  a  ready  subject  attitude,  to  use  his  intellectual 
powers  promptly  and  economically.  This  simple  plan 
often  is  an  influence  emancipating  the  pupil  from  home 
study,  or  a  factor  reducing  to  a  minimum  the  time  spent 
on  the  home  work  by  the  ambitious  pupil.  An  addi- 
tional hour  after  school  may  voluntarily  be  devoted  to 
conference  and  conference  study  with  the  teachers,  as 
these  teachers  are  in  their  respective  classrooms  ready 
for  such  conference  study. 


SCHOOL   STUDY   VERSUS   HOME   STUDY       299 

"What  a  school  is  docs  not  require  definition.  The 
teacher  is   the  important  factor   of   the   school.     The 

modern  teacher  has  too  often,  by  force  of  tradition  and 
method,  become  a  mere  automatic  recitation  receiving 
device  and  a  machine  lesson-assigning  apparatus.  This 
implies  that  lessons  are  assigned  to  school  attendants; 
but  less  than  fifty  per  cent  of  that  number,  as  teachers 
well  know,  do  the  unreasonable  amount  of  home  study 
required  of  them;  the  other  fifty  per  cent  'kill  time'  at 
school  under  the  old  system.  By  the  new  plan  a  value 
is  placed  by  the  child  on  every  school  minute.  Each 
moment  spent  in  school  on  work,  under  the  ideal  condi- 
tions offered,  releases  the  pupil  from  burdensome,  ener- 
vating home  study.  Hence  the  appreciation  of  the 
value  of  time."1 

Eight-Hour  Day  in  School  Work. — "The  municipality, 
the  State,  and  the  United  States  have  established  eight 
hours  as  the  legal  day  for  manual  workers.  I  do  not 
think  it  right  nor  even  humane  that  educators  should 
work  young  boys  and  girls  five  or  six  hours  in  school  and 
then  set  tasks  that  take  many  hours  at  home.  If  the 
common  eight-hour  law  applies  to  the  adult  man  for 
manual  labor,  I  cannot  comprehend  why  it  should  not 
be  unhesitatingly  enforced  in  school  work  in  favor  of  the 
growing  school  child  who  has  not  reached  his  maturity, 
since  mental  labor  is  more  trying  and  enervating.  Treat 
your  children  fairly." 

"Under  present  conditions  of  lesson  assignment  the 
conscientious  children  come  from  play  to  the  evening 
meal,  hurriedly  swallow  that,  and  then  work  at  books  un- 
til bedtime.  In  this  way  not  only  do  they  menace  their 
health,  but  they  lose  the  association  with  parents  and 

1  Paragraphs  quoted  are  taken  from  an  article  by  the  author,  "  Home- 
Study  Reform,"  in  School  Review,  Oct.,  191 2. 


300  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  necessary  appreciation  of  family  relations  and  inter- 
ests. To  this  is,  in  my  judgment,  partly  to  be  attributed 
the  children's  rampant  disrespect  for  parents  and  elders, 
who  cannot  understand  or  know  their  offspring  because 
of  lack  of  association.  Further,  I  believe  that  the  pres- 
ent undercurrent  of  immorality  in  the  lives  of  boys  and 
girls  is,  in  part,  due  to  this  loss  of  parental  association 
and  the  lack  of  the  moral  influence  of  the  family.  Home 
study  is  a  frequent  excuse  for  children  to  remain  away 
from  church  on  Sunday  and  from  church  functions  which 
occur  during  the  week.  In  the  evenings,  too,  the  child  is 
of  necessity  debarred  from  attendance  at  lectures,  at  con- 
certs, or  at  the  theatre.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  the 
present  methods,  to  a  certain  extent,  are  unhygienic  and 
deprive  the  child  of  such  moral,  cultural,  and  religious 
influences  as  would  do  much  to  educate  him  in  the 
highest  sense." 

Our  system  encourages  the  appreciation  of  relative 
values  in  the  child.  He  early  learns  through  experience 
that  time  spent  in  school  on  the  assigned  task  at  the 
proper  moment  means,  perhaps,  no  home  study  or,  at 
most,  very  little  of  it.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  there  is 
an  evident  lack  of  fatigue,  though  the  school  hours  are 
long,  from  half  past  eight  to  three,  with  the  extra  period 
from  three  to  four.  There  is  no  diminution  of  interest 
or  weariness  noticeable  before  the  noon  period  or  before 
the  afternoon  close  of  school.  There  is  evident  an  alert- 
ness and  brightness  of  the  eye  indicative  of  good  atten- 
tion and  scholarship. 

Humanizing  Effect  on  Teachers. — "Such  a  system  as 
that  which  we  employ  has  the  wonderful  effect  of  human- 
izing the  teachers  by  bringing  them  into  that  intimate 
association  with  the  pupil  thought  and  idea.     The  con- 


SCHOOL   STUDY   VERSUS    HOME    SI  I  I>\        301 

sequence  is  that  the  teacher's  sympathetic  consideration, 
generous  conception,  and  sincere  appre<  lation  of  the  <lii 
ficulties  of  the  scholar  result  in  inspiring  refined  methods 
of  teaching  the  various  lessons.  Hence  the  outcome  has 
been  better,  more  ideal,  and  more  humane  teaching  than 
has  obtained  under  the  usual  academic  plan  of  knowl- 
edge dissemination." 

Different  Type  of  Recitation  Required.  -The  new  plan 
requires  an  absolute  remodelling  and  replanning  of  the 
old  type  of  recitation.  It  means,  for  the  pupils'  benefil . 
sacrifice  of  self  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  Through  the 
evolution  of  the  tyrannical  pedagogue  into  the  new 
teacher,  that  part  of  the  teacher  that  is  of  the  universal 
good  grows  and  encourages  the  universal  goodness  of  the 
child  to  unfold  itself.  The  pessimistic  teacher  who  fails 
to  reconcile  the  highest  ideals  of  progress  to  familiar  tra- 
ditional conditions  becomes  his  own  destructive  toxin. 

"One  of  the  chief  difficulties  that  children  meel  in  their 
study  tasks  is  the  inability  to  distinguish  for  themselves, 
through  their  own  observation,  those  trying  portions  in 
their  tasks  which  judicious  and  immediate  elucidation  on 
the  part  of  the  teacher  would  render  possible  of  correcl 
conception.  The  new  plan  of  study-recitation  teaches 
and  inculcates  introspection  in  the  child,  so  that  he  early 
learns  to  determine  for  himself  his  power  to  perceive 
difficult  points  and  to  fix  upon  correct  methods  for  their 
solution  through  proper  reasoning  and  under  proper 
guidance  over  initial  difficulties.  He  thus  obtains  for 
himself  organized  lesson  conceptions  instead  of  poorly 
worked  study  tasks." 

Initiative    of    Child   Inspired   to    Greater   Activity. 
It  is  an  axiom  that  children  like  to  be  doing  thing-. 
The  Froebel  kindergarten  methods  and  the  Montessori 


302  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

method  are  applications  of  the  above  dictum.  Teach 
the  child  a  "how"  and  it  becomes  happy  through  the 
presence  in  itself  of  the  power  to  do  tasks  which  require 
intellectual  or  manual  effort,  or  both.  By  the  method 
advocated  here  the  natural  initiative  of  the  child  has  been 
inspired  to  greater  activity,  because  he  begins  to  exercise 
a  vivid  imagination,  to  make  use  of  concrete  conceptions, 
and  to  become  a  creator  of  problem  solutions  and  thought 
expressions,  instead  of  an  imitator  of  the  teacher  as  un- 
der the  traditional  method.  The  child,  therefore,  uses 
its  energy  to  the  fullest  extent. 

Concentration. — The  power  of  concentration  which 
has  through  this  method  been  acquired  by  the  pupils 
of  the  school  is  evident  to  all  observers.  The  value  of 
the  exercise  of  concentration  in  young  people  cannot 
be  overestimated.  This  leads  here  to  the  saving  of 
much  time  from  dissipation  of  mental  energy  and  thus 
sanctions  the  new  plan  as  a  time-saving  aid  in  mental 
effort. 

Study  Habits. — Correct  study  habits  are  formed  by  a 
careful  observation  of  the  suggested  recitation-confer- 
ence plan.  Intellectual  courage  is  inspired.  With  this 
come  intellectual  manliness,  independence,  self-reliance, 
and  a  desire  to  penetrate,  because  of  the  adventure-loving 
bent  of  youth,  even  the  realms  of  the  intellectual  un- 
known for  the  pleasures  of  intellectual  surprises. 

Satisfied,  repaid  effort  removes  the  necessity  for  disci- 
pline to  such  an  extent  that  in  the  school  school  spirit 
and  loyalty  rise  to  a  very  high  point.  The  school  is  sim- 
ilar to  a  corporation  organized  on  the  co-operative  plan. 
Into  this  corporation  each  student  stockholder  puts  as 
capital  his  best  efforts  and  energies  and  receives  as  a  re- 
turn such  high  dividends  on  the  investment  that  he 


SCHOOL   STUDY   VERSUS   HOME   STUDY       :;n:: 

returns  from  year  to  year  bent  upon  further  develop- 
ment and  concerned  for  the  welfare  of  all  and  Bell 
in  proper,  personal  activities.  Observe  our  noon  n 
during  which  for  more  than  a  year  the  whole  school  of 
over  one  thousand  five  hundred  pupils,  both  in  the  lunch 
room  and  on  the  roof  playground,  looks  after  its  own  wel- 
fare, not  through  student  committees,  not  through  proc- 
tors, but  through  that  loyal  school  spirit  and  personal 
pride  which  come  from  the  inspiration  of  value  received 
for  effort  expended  in  the  classroom.  It  is  thought  that 
this  organized  school  study  is  the  chief  cause. 

Promotions. — Promotions  under  this  system  may  be  a 
matter  of  interest  to  all.  Last  term,  for  example — the 
figures  for  that  period  are  given  as  showing  the  latest 
experiences  with  our  plan — there  were  over  eighty-five 
per  cent  of  promotions  in  all  subjects.  Had  it  not  been 
for  the  illness  and  change  of  several  teachers  in  the  same 
department  of  work,  the  record  of  promotion  would 
have  been  over  ninety  per  cent.  This  demonstrates 
clearly  (if  our  judgment  of  the  value  of  this  plan  is  cor- 
rect), despite  the  high  standards  for  promotion  which 
were  set,  the  especial  efficiency  of  the  plan,  on  the  basis 
of  economic  school  administration,  over  the  old  plan  of 
school  keeping. 

Increase  in  Enrolment. — In  our  school,  despite  the 
handicap  of  its  being  a  new  school  with  incomplete  equip- 
ment in  every  one  of  its  many  departments,  the  net  reg- 
istration left  at  the  close  of  the  first  term  was  about 
eighty-two  and  nine  tenths  per  cent  of  the  original  total 
term  enrolment.  At  the  close  of  the  second  half-year 
the  figure  reached  eighty-nine  and  two  tenths  per  cent 
of  the  total  enrolment.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  at  the  end  of  the  third  half-year  the  per  cent  of 


304  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

pupils  will  vary  between  ninety-two  per  cent  and  ninety- 
five  per  cent  of  the  original  total  enrolment.  This 
record  in  a  large  city  high  school  is  due  in  largest  mea- 
sure, in  the  opinion  of  those  in  position  to  judge,  to  this 
same  method  of  conference  study. 

Educational  mortality  is  one  of  the  most  serious  con- 
ditions met  in  the  life  of  the  high  school.  Large  num- 
bers of  pupils  begin  high  school  careers.  Many  of  these 
educationally  perish  in  the  struggle  for  a  certificate 
of  graduation.  Numerous  reasons  may  be  offered  for 
this.  Among  them  is  the  great  difference  in  character 
between  high  school  and  grade  work.  The  children  are 
bewildered  and  discouraged  by  the  new  environment, 
with  its  strange  departmental  methods,  departmental 
indifference,  and  lack  of  personal  sympathy  as  to  the 
child's  ability  to  handle  himself  in  his  secondary  school 
studies  under  these  peculiar  circumstances.  By  the  reci- 
tation-conference plan  the  student  is,  very  early  in  lus 
school  career,  enabled  to  get  his  proper  poise  in  this  new 
environment. 

Increase  in  Amount  of  Work. — Now  that  teachers  are 
becoming  more  accustomed  to  the  new  plan,  we  note 
that  under  it  the  English  department  finds  that  it  is  able 
to  complete  fifty  per  cent  more  work  than  is  usually  done 
in  high  schools.  The  German  department  reports  that 
its  term's  work  in  many  classes  has  been  satisfactorily 
finished  nearly  one  month  earlier  than  usual.  The 
mathematics  department  offers  similar  statements,  as 
do  the  science  and  history  departments.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  above  results  have  been  obtained 
by  the  teachers  who  have  most  sincerely  co-operated  in 
the  new  conference-study  plan. 

"This  system  has  not  discouraged  any  of  the  usual 


SCHOOL  STUDY   VERSUS   HOME   STUDY       305 

school  activities,  as  we  have  our  athletic  asso<  iation,  our 
monthly  school  paper,  our  orchestra,  mandolin  club, 
dramatic  and  other  organizations.  Administrative  diffi- 
culties dwindle  in  number  through  our  method,  since 
self-control  and  kindred  virtues  spontaneously  appear. 
Because  of  our  method  we  know  that  ea<  li  pupil  works 
to  the  best  advantage  and  actually  does  some  study." 

Home  Study  Minimized.  —Home  study  should  aever 
be  made  a  lever  for  influencing  morals  by  imposinj 
orbitant  requirements  on  the  student.  Has  the  parent 
no  duty  in  this  connection?  If  the  parent  is  powerless, 
let  the  social-service  organizations  aid  in  strengthening 
moral  influences,  and  permit  the  school,  while  co-operat- 
ing, to  broaden  the  pupil  intellectually  and  to  give  him 
greater  mental  and  ethical  power  to  do  and  to  be  some- 
thing. By  our  plan  the  boy  and  girl  are  given  a  chance 
to  develop  manhood  and  womanhood.  The  school  thus 
proves  itself  a  friend,  not  a  taskmaster,  and  becomes  a 
humane,  wise  "assistant  parent." 

Specific  Advantages. — "By  the  plan  given,  home  study 
is  minimized  and,  in  the  case  of  the  brightest  pupils,  even 
eliminated.  The  plan  permits  the  child  after  school  hours 
to  delve  deeply  into  the  treasures  of  literature  while 
doing  the  laboratory  work  of  English  at  the  school.  It 
offers  time  for  other  forms  of  research.  It  makes  \  < 
ble  church  attendance  and  consequent  religious  and 
moral  training.  It  affords  time  for  the  impress  of  h 
and  family  influences.  It  gives  an  opportunity  for  the 
aesthetic  influence  of  music,  the  theatre,  and  the  lecture 
hall.  The  dread  that  the  American  boy  will  find  his 
way  to  the  street  and  to  vice  if  left  without  home  study 
is  groundless.  For  this  system  has  everything  to  offer 
in  the  way  of  spontaneous  inspiration   to  culture,  re- 


306  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

finement,  good  qualities,  and  the  ambitious  desire  for 
advancement  and  progress." 

Conserving  the  Pupils'  Resources. — The  principle  of 
"the  conservation  of  national  resources"  demands  that 
the  serious  and  constant  reduction  of  high  school  num- 
bers be  stopped  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 

If  we  note  the  continuous  effort  made  to  obtain  from 
the  soil,  through  intensive  cultivation,  greater  and  higher 
yields,  does  it  not  seem  to  be  a  national  disaster  that  up 
to  this  time  we  have  actually  neglected  to  follow  out  this 
principle  of  intensive  treatment,  applying  it  to  the  im- 
provement of  study  technic  and  mastery  in  the  secon- 
dary schools?  Long  hours  of  home  study  indicate  lack  of 
consideration  for  the  physical  welfare  of  pupils.  This 
Central  High  School  (Newark,  N.  J.)  plan  of  a  longer 
day  and  of  period  division  into  recitation  and  confer- 
ence helps  to  solve  this  problem.  The  natural  resources 
of  the  pupil  must  be  conserved.  This  plan  conserves 
them  and  at  the  same  time  increases  the  pupil's  efficiency 
in  school.  This  plan  carried  out  in  details  at  Newark 
has  been  adopted  in  whole  or  in  part  at  Trenton,  N.  J., 
Norristown,  Pa.,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  Detroit,  Mich.,  and 
is  under  consideration  for  adoption  in  many  cities  and 
towns  throughout  the  country. 

Explanation  of  Tables. — Appended  to  this  chapter  are 
several  specimen  tables  collated  from  the  examination 
data  of  the  school.  These  show  the  reports  of  the  various 
teachers  of  the  English,  German,  and  science  depart- 
ments. Other  departments  show  similar  conditions.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  that  the  teachers  who  promoted 
the  fewest  pupils  did  not  follow  the  method,  those  who 
used  the  plan  indifferently  had  average  promotion  per- 
centages,  and   those  teachers  who  systematically  and 


SCHOOL   STUDY   VERSUS   HOME   STUDY       307 

zealously  employed  the  new  idea  apparently  made  the 
best  promotion  records. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  it  is  not  reasonable  to 
attribute  the  many  good  results  obtained  in  the  Central 
Commercial  and  Manual  Training  High  School  of  New- 
ark to  the  new  method  employed  in  the  administration 
of  the  school.  Whether  all  the  good  conditions  ascribed 
to  the  method  are  really  due  to  it  or  not  must  be  left  to 
the  unprejudiced  judgment  of  scientific  students  of  edu- 
cational experiments,  when  standard  objective  tests  of 
efficiency  of  school  administration  may  have  been  con- 
ceived and  clearly  formulated. 


308  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

TABLE  I— ENGLISH  DEPARTMENT— JANUARY,  1913 


Alden.  ... 
Goldstein. 
Snodgrass . 

Holt 

Denton. . . 

Rich 

Muhleman 
Herzberg . 


No.  on  roll  day  of  promotion 


1    \ 


2  H 


2  A 


3B 


JA 


4B 


No.  promoted 


1  A 

2B 

2A 

3B 

27 

26 

24 

49 

24 

18 

38 

71 

3° 

79 

25 

38 

36 

181 

142 

7S 

87 

318 

229 

157 

158 

3A 


4B 


4A 


Departmental  to- 
tals current  term 

General  depart- 
mental averages . 


187 


337 
621 


Alden 

Goldstein.  . 
Snodgrass. . 

Holt 

Denton. . . . 

Rich 

Muhleman. 
Herzberg .  . 


No.  not  promoted 


1  B 


Departmental  to- 
tals current  term 

General  depart- 
mental averages . 


[  A 


2  A 


3B 


JA 


1  B 


1  A 


Per  cent  of  promotion 


1  B 


87.2 
845 
9S-o 
roo.o 
70.8 
57-1 


1  A 


80.0 
75-0 


65.1 
76.9 

97-4 


j  A 


90.0  89.6 
8S-9 


79.0 
92.3 


3B 


83.3 


3  A 


66.6 
81.2 
89.7 


4B 
90.4 
93-7 


4A 


83.8 
84.0 


75- 1 
75-3 


84.0 


87.2 


84.1  83.9 


87.8 
90.8 


80.4 
78.3 


92.4 
91.8 


TOTALS 


Alden  

Goldstein.  . 
Snodgrass.  . 

Holt 

Denton 

Rich 

Muhleman. 
Herzberg . .  . 


No.  on  roll     No.  promoted 


174 
18s 
199 
24 
24 
199 
1S5 
168 


154 

157 
182 
24 
17 
125 
147 
155 


Per  cent 


88. 5 
84.8 
91-4 
100.  o 
70.8 
62.8 
74-4 
92.2 


Departmental  totals  current  term . 
General  departmental  averages .  . 


1,158 
2,066 


961 
1.704 


82.9 
82.4 


On  roll  at  end  of  term  per  teacher,  average  183. 


SCHOOL  STUDY  VERSUS   HOME   Ml  l>\        309 
TABLE  I— ENGLISH  DEPARTMENT— JUNE,  1913 


Alden .... 
Goldstein. 
Snodgrass. 

Holt 

Daggett .  . 
Harvey . . . 

Rich 

Lewin .... 
Herzberg . 


No.  on  roll  day  of  promotion 


iB   1  Ai  B 


2  A 


26    23 


1  B 


3A 


I  B 


.A 


No.  promoted 


L     I! 


1  A 


2B 

2A 

JB 

3A 





62 

17 

3» 

11 

2g 

17 

32 

25 

68 

17 

18 

21 

10 

121 

113 

71 

66 

35° 

270 

220 

I7> 

4 II 


I  \ 


Departmental  to- 
tals current  term 

General  depart- 
mental averages 


3°8 
1047 


323  162 

745  434 


55     244 
104    865 


57 

[28 


Alden .... 
Goldstein. 
Snodgrass . 

Holt 

Daggett .  . 
Harvey . . . 

Rich 

Lewin .... 
Herzberg . 


No.  not  promoted 


1  B 


1  A  2  B 


A3B3A 


4B 


.A 


Per  cent  of  promotion 


1  B    1  A    2  B    2  A 


66.6 

1  78 .9 

687.8 

182.0 

2 

5 '90. 3 

5 

72.4 


71  5 
85. 7 
80.7 


79  4 

76. 1 


82.6 


SB 


.A 


77.2  78.1 
96 . 6  80 . 9 


80. 9 


i  B 


.A 


Departmental  to- 
tals current  term 

General  depart- 
mental averages 


79.2 
82. 6 


81.7 
78  1 


74.6 
80.6 


79.0 
81.8 


7 
go.  6 


79  5 
78.8 


80  c 
895 


015 


TOTALS 


Alden 

Goldstein . 
Snodgrass . 

Holt 

Daggett . . . 
Harvey .  . . 

Rich 

Lewin.  .  . . 
Herzberg . . 


Departmental  totals  current  term . 
General  departmental  averages .  .  . 


No.  on  roll    No.  promoted       Per  cent 


201 
172 
190 
60 
19 
200 
170 
72 
134 


1218 
3284 


151 

143 

?50 

48 

16 

177 

122 

58 

117 


831 
82  1 
80  o 
84  2 
88.5 
71  7 
80.5 
87  3 


:f>cj: 


81. 1 
81.0 


On  roll  at  end  of  term  per  teacher,  average,  174- 


310 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


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SCHOOL   STUDY   VERSUS   HOME   STUDY       311 


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CHAPTER   XII 

HOME  AND  SCHOOL  ASSOCIATION  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL'S 
RIGHT  ARM 

Mary  V.  Grice 

FOUNDER    OF    HOME    AND   SCHOOL   LEAGUE   OF    PHILADELPHIA 

Introduction. — The  "Commencement." — It  is  com- 
mencement day  at  the  high  school.  Lights  blaze 
throughout  the  great  auditorium.  Down  every  aisle 
pours  a  flood-tide  of  humanity.  Literally,  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men — representatives  from  hundreds  of 
homes  come,  attracted  by  a  compelling  force  to  this 
centre  of  community  interest.  The  curtain,  still  un- 
drawn, hangs  in  dignified  folds,  typifying  the  sharply 
denned  line  dividing  the  two  vital  forces  of  the  day. 
The  home — eager,  expectant,  informal,  an  onlooker, 
waiting  breathlessly  for  the  final  touch  of  that  hand  into 
which  its  "bloom  and  flower"  have  been  committed 
during  the  past  four  years.  The  school — -assured,  di- 
dactic, with  an  air  of  work  accomplished,  breathing  final- 
ity in  every  movement. 

The  whisperings  of  an  aunt  and  older  sister  to  our  left 
stir  a  sense  of  human  interest  which  quickens  into  a  flow 
of  sympathy  for  the  young  "Pauline"  of  whom  they 
speak.  Such  heroic  efforts,  such  forgettings  of  self,  as 
are  revealed  in  their  conversation  that  that  one  life 
might  have  reached  this  day  successfully.     The  sister  a 

312 


HOME   AND   SCHOOL  ASSOCIATION  313 

maker  of  artificial  flowers,  the  aunt  a  caretaker  of  a  little 

shop,  but  the  genuineness  of  their  joy  over  the  one  in 
that  white-frocked  group  who  was  theirs  related  them 
to  the  whole  gathering  with  the  welding  power  of  na- 
ture's touch. 

On  the  other  side  a  father  and  mother  rehearse  in  Low 
tones  their  plans  for  the  university  life  of  their  son  now 
graduating.  Running  on  in  happy  fashion  from  this 
day  of  honor,  visioning  his  law  course  until  it  ends  in 
a  judge's  robe.  Throughout  the  great  gathering,  wher- 
ever the  home  gives  expression  to  its  hopes,  similar  con- 
fidences are  being  exchanged. 

A  few  short  hours  and  the  school  will  have  handed 
back  to  these  homes  its  finished  product — handed  it  back 
with  the  conscious  knowledge  that  in  the  large  majority 
of  cases  the  home  knows  no  more  how  to  cope  with 
the  budding  powers  and  impulses  of  youth  than  though 
a  child  had  never  passed  through  its  doors.  That  build- 
ing of  character  through  the  guidance  of  the  hot  blood  of 
adolescence  into  the  dynamic  of  self-control  is  as  un- 
known to  most  parents  as  is  the  nebular  hypothesis. 

Community  Need  versus  Traditional  Pedagogy. — We 
listened  to  the  whole  long  programme  with  that  com- 
bined sense  of  pathos  and  joy,  that  yearning  surge  which 
always  stirs  in  facing  youth  pushed  forward  to  the 
"firing-line."  We  found  ourself  at  last  one  of  the  crowd, 
surging  out  into  the  night  and  melting  away  into  the 
separating  streams  of  humanity  which  ebbed  back 
from  the  evening's  flow  into  the  homes  whence  they 
came.  And  ever  the  recurrent  question  persisted:  WTiy 
should  this  great  public  building,  erected  at  such  large 
expense  to  the  people,  with  its  force  of  workers  trained 
largely  at  the  expense  of  the  people,  be  of  such  small 


314  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

value  to  its  community  in  proportion  to  that  commu- 
nity's great  need? 

The  aunt  and  older  sister  with  their  laudable  ambi- 
tions, the  father  and  mother  with  their  legitimate  pride 
and  far-reaching  plans  are  but  types  that  faintly  shadow 
the  wide  divergence  of  interests  and  opportunity  that 
the  schools  of  a  country  like  ours  should  be  called  upon 
to  reach,  not  only  in  the  old-time  method  of  school 
approach,  but  in  a  broader  way  that  shall  correlate  ex- 
isting forces,  until  together  they  shall  make  for  greater 
social  efficiency.  Again  we  ask:  Why  should  not  this 
institution,  with  its  splendidly  organized  faculty,  its 
force  of  trained  workers,  its  systematized  tasks,  be 
reaching  and  moulding  these  homes  in  far  more  vital 
ways  than  it  does?  Why  should  its  influence  cease  with 
the  commencement  hour? 

As  long  as  youth  is  in  our  midst  these  two  forces  of  the 
home  and  the  school  will  be  directing  their  energies 
toward  the  same  object.  Having  very  largely  the  same 
end  in  view — the  development  of  a  manhood  and  woman- 
hood which  shall  finally  eventuate  in  citizenship  worthy 
of  a  democracy — why  should  they  work  so  unknow- 
ingly of  each  other?  Why,  indeed,  so  often  in  direct  op- 
position to  each  other?  The  answer  seems  very  simple. 
It  is  because  they  never  meet  on  common  ground  where 
they  can  draw  from  one  another  the  strength  which  would 
mean  an  added  power  to  both.  If  education  is,  indeed, 
to  be  a  drawing  out  rather  than  the  in-cramming  process 
of  the  past,  to  what  more  profitable  form  of  educa- 
tional endeavor  could  a  school  lend  itself  than  to  that 
of  drawing  out  from  the  community  about  it  those 
latent  forces  that  will  make  for  the  upbuilding  of  a  noble 
citizenship? 


HOME  AND   SCHOOL  ASSOCIATION  315 

Night  after  night  the  surrounding  streets  will  lit-  filled 
with  young  life  seeking  some  self-expression,  often  falling 
a  prey  to  those  who  in  their  day  and  generation  arc 
" wise "  and  have  commercialized  this  universal  spirit  of 
youth.  Yet  the  high  school  building  will  stand  forbid- 
dingly closed,  darkened,  and  aloof,  frowning  down  on 
public  revelling  places  in  pharisaic  attitude,  thanking 
God  it  is  not  as  they,  forgetting  that  life  is  so  vastly 
greater  than  its  marble'  halls,  forgetting,  indeed,  that 
the  only  possible  excuse  for  its  existence  lies  in  the 
contribution  it  is  able  to  make  to  the  real  life  of  its 
time. 

The  School  Approach  -The  Home's  Appeal. — Was 
the  school  satisfied  with  its  "finished"  product  on  that 
commencement  night?  We  cannot  speak  as  one  who 
knows,  but  we  should  judge  from  the  wave  of  uncertainty 
and  dissatisfaction  sweeping  over  the  educational  world 
to-day  that  it  was  not. 

For  the  home  we  can  speak,  and  speak  from  the  inside. 
Never  in  the  history  of  education  has  the  home  been 
more  restless  than  now.  Never  has  it  been  less  willing 
to  set  its  stamp  of  approval  upon  the  "product"  of  the 
schools.  Proof  of  this  can  be  seen  on  all  sides.  Cur- 
rent publications  are  filled  with  denouncements  of  the 
schools.  To  be  sure,  these  articles  are  mostly  by  the 
laity,  but  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  the  laity  is  com- 
posed largely  of  the  taxpayers,  and,  should  they  once  be 
awakened  to  their  power,  changes  could  be  made.  Not 
content  with  anathematizing  the  system,  this  same  lay- 
man on  all  sides  is  "backing"  with  his  influence  and 
means  various  educational  experiments,  if,  perchance,  he 
may  but  prove  them  out  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  in 
charge  of  the  schools. 


316  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

Upon  no  one  point  has  more  criticism  been  directed 
than  upon  the  high  school  as  it  has  been  commonly 
known.  Academic,  apart,  it  has  been  sending  forth  its 
finished  (?)  product  almost  wholly  unprepared  for  life. 
Back  into  the  homes  the  students  go,  to  find  themselves 
unable  to  cope  with  the  simple  problems  of  every-day 
living.  And  the  home  is  as  powerless  to  supply  a  way 
to  help  them  as  the  school.  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  if  these  two  dynamics  in  the  life  of  youth  were 
but  to  work  together,  and  work  understandingly,  there 
would  come  an  added  power  to  both?  As  it  is  to-day, 
the  school  fails  to  use  its  good  right  arm,  which  is  none 
other  than  this  influence  of  the  home.  Not  until  there 
is  some  method  devised  whereby  this  force  can  be  utilized 
through  school  agencies  will  any  system  of  education 
attain  its  full  efficiency. 

Home  and  School  Associations. — Here  and  there  spo- 
radic attempts  have  been  made  to  bring  about  a  helpful 
co-operation  between  the  two,  but  no  one  plan  has  yet 
crystallized  into  an  accepted  pattern.  After  twenty 
years  of  effort  with  various  experiments  we  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  so  far  no  better  way  has  been  de- 
veloped than  that  expressed  in  the  simple  term  "Home 
and  School  Association."  It  is  wider  (not  better)  in  its 
service  than  the  "Mothers'  Meeting"  and  more  flexible 
and  far-reaching  in  its  influence  than  the  "Parent- 
Teacher"  groups.  It  has  a  staying  quality  not  to  be 
found  in  the  latter.  It  is  more  heterogeneous  than 
alumni  associations  and  has  aims  that  reach  the  heart 
fibres  of  the  people  more  directly  than  the  civic  club. 
It  grows  out  of  that  unerring  impulse  to  human  action, 
the  love  of  the  child,  that  is  bound,  when  coupled  with 
knowledge,  to  lead  on  to  better  things  for  the  child. 


HOME   AND    SCHOOL   ASSOCIATION  317 

Aims. — It  aims  primarily  to  bring  about  a  closer  and 
more  intelligent  co-operation  between  the  home  and  the 
school.  To  accomplish  this  its  chief  effort  is  to  stim- 
ulate the  home  and  awaken  in  it  a  keener  sense  of 
its  responsibility  to  the  mutual  problems  facing  both. 
The  following  excerpt  from  the  message  of  the  president 
of  the  Philadelphia  Home  and  School  League  at  its  last 
annual  meeting  puts  it  succinctly: 

This  organization  stands  pre-eminently  for  the  stimulating 
of  the  home  to  a  deeper  and  more  intelligent  interest  in  those 
things  which  relate  to  child  life.  Other  organizations  exist  for 
the  education  of  the  public  along  the  lines  of  educational  prog- 
ress as  related  to  the  schools.  This  organization  exists  for  the 
education  of  the  home  as  it  is  related  to  the  children  of  the 
schools.  It  is  not  in  our  province  to  raise  questions  of  school 
policy,  to  touch  upon  pedagogical  methods,  or  in  any  way  to 
oppose  the  given  system  of  education,  unless  those  of  our  mem- 
bers who  are  touching  the  child  in  the  intimate  relation  of  the 
home  feel  that  school  policy,  pedagogical  methods,  or  the  given 
system  are  not  resulting  in  a  product  that  will  make  for  the 
betterment  of  home  life;  then,  and  then  only,  will  an  organiza- 
tion like  this  fill  its  legitimate  place  when  it  comes  to  the  front 
and  raises  questions  in  regard  to  any  of  the  above-mentioned 
factors. 

Methods. — This  movement  is  killed  before  it  comes  to 
birth  if  foisted  upon  the  community  by  outside  influence. 
No  group  of  would-be  philanthropists,  no  university,  no 
faculty  of  a  school,  no  board  of  education  has  the  required 
dynamic  within  itself  to  project  this  thought  into  the 
hearts  of  the  people  with  sufficient  force  to  make  it  bite 
into  their  lives  and  hold.  There  must  be  a  mutual  com- 
ing together  with  the  impulse  largely  from  the  home. 
Otherwise  it  becomes  but  another  of  the  school  activities 
and  loses  its  local  coloring.     While  the  leader  should  be 


318  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

chosen  from  the  laity  the  school  should  be  the  guiding 
and  directing  power. 

Let  there  be  called  together  in  conference  a  group  of 
representative  citizens,  men  and  women,  whether  they 
have  children  in  the  school  or  not;  the  shibboleth  of  their 
fitness  should  be  the  love  and  interest  they  have  in  the 
young.  This  group  can  be  formed  into  a  "Citizens' 
Committee"  that  will  aid  with  its  influence  and  its  means 
this  movement  toward  socializing  the  high  school.  Cre- 
ate a  bureau  of  speakers  by  inviting  men  and  women  who 
can  give  worth-while  talks  to  pledge  themselves  for  a 
once-a-season  service.  Even  the  busiest  people  are  will- 
ing to  make  such  a  contribution  in  aid  of  work  like  this. 
Enlist  women's  clubs  and  civic  clubs,  with  public  edu- 
cation associations  and  other  organized  groups  holding 
mutual  interests,  into  an  affiliation  with  the  movement. 
By  this  co-ordination  the  structure  is  strengthened  for 
its  future  usefulness.  The  leaders  should  be  representa- 
tives of  the  homes  and  the  faculty  of  the  school.  Thus 
having  launched  the  association  in  all  sincerity  and  with 
as  little  "red-tape"  as  possible,  its  further  course  will 
largely  depend  upon  the  local  needs  and  the  local  de- 
mands made  upon  it. 

Activities. — The  activities  into  which  such  an  associa- 
tion will  enter  will  be  as  varied  as  the  people  who  con- 
stitute the  membership.  Naturally,  the  early  gatherings 
will  be  more  or  less  formal.  Lectures,  moving  pictures, 
music  may  be  the  ostensible  reason  for  the  gathering, 
but  the  thing  accomplished  will  be  the  securing  from  the 
school  that  human  touch  which  goes  far  toward  inter- 
preting to  the  surrounding  homes  the  common  brother- 
hood for  which  the  school  stands.  Such  meetings  suc- 
ceed in  projecting  the  school  into  the  home  by  means 


HOME   AND    SCHOOL   ASSOCIATION  319 

less  formal  and  more  readily  understood  than  is  the 
generally  accepted  method  of  school  approach. 

What  more  fitting  than  that  that  institution  which 
stands  as  the  cultural  custodian  of  the  race  should  break 
the  great  thoughts  of  the  ages,  the  heritage  of  the  race, 
into  fragments  fitted  to  the  comprehension  of  the  many 
instead  of  the  few.  Whether  this  be  done  by  story  or 
picture  or  song,  there  will  be  created  on  the  part  of  the 
school  in  its  response  to  this  social  obligation  a  new  kind 
of  pedagogy,  that  of  the  heart  rather  than  that  of  the 
head.  The  high  school  should  be  such  a  centre  as  this 
in  every  community. 

Social  Teacher. — It  will  mean  an  added  force  of 
trained  workers.  The  thing  to  be  done  is  too  important 
to  warrant  putting  it  upon  our  already  overworked 
teachers,  either  as  a  side  issue  or  as  a  sop  thrown  to 
appease  the  present  popular  demands.  The  added 
workers,  in  turn,  will  need  the  help  and  power  to  be  se- 
cured from  a  co-operating  body  of  laymen  and  women 
of  the  community.  The  social  teacher  will  be  the  con- 
necting link  between  the  two. 

Through  all  meetings  of  the  home  and  school  there 
must  run  like  the  warp  through  the  weave  talks  and  dis- 
cussions concerning  youth  and  the  special  period  of 
development  in  which  at  the  given  time  the  school  and 
those  touching  the  boy  and  girl  more  intimately  are 
most  keenly  interested.  As  the  years  spent  in  the  high 
school  are  coincident  with  the  period  of  adolescence, 
the  consideration  of  that  experience  will  most  naturally 
come  to  the  fore. 

Library  Extension. — One  of  the  duties  of  the  social 
teacher  will  be  the  laying  out  of  programmes  for  all  such 
meetings.     A  collateral  part  of  this  programme  will  con- 


320  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

sist  in  the  preparation  of  "Packet  Libraries"1  for  use  in 
the  home.  These  "packets"  can  readily  be  put  together 
by  the  students  of  the  senior  class  under  proper  direc- 
tion. Their  preparation  will  require  much  reading  and 
careful  research,  both  of  which  will  lead  into  the  fields 
of  child  nature  and  child  nurture.  The  newspaper  clip- 
pings, magazine  articles,  and  monographs,  with  list  of 
reference  books,  noting  page  and  chapter  of  the  subject 
under  consideration,  will  go  far  toward  informing  the 
young  worker  as  well  as  the  adults  of  the  home  into 
which  the  packet  goes. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  the  American  Institute  of 
Child  Life  we  are  enabled  to  give  the  following  out- 
lines of  programmes  dealing  with  the  adolescent  period. 
Space  forbids  mentioning  full  contents  of  packet  other 
than  as  marked  by  the  word  "references." 

Boys  and  Girls  in  Community  Life 

Social  Life. — The  child  is  educated  through  association  with  his 
fellows — the  chum,  the  comrade,  student  organizations  in 
the  high  school.     (References.) 

Amusements. — Wise  and  otherwise:  Dancing — its  benefits  and 
evils;  physiology;  rhythm;  physical  training.  The  dramatic 
instinct — its  educational  and  moral  significance.  Moving 
pictures  pro  and  con.  Pageant  and  folk  festivals — spirit 
and  method.     (References.) 

Entertainment. — Children's  parties;  games;  diversions.  (Refer- 
ences.) 

Outdoor  Entertainment. — The  vacation  habit:  Camp  and  camp- 
ing.    Boy  scouts.     Camp-fire  girls.     (References.) 

1  Patterned  after  the  Library  Extension  idea  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin. 


HOME  AND   SCHOOL  ASSOCIATION  321 

The  Girl  and  the  Woman 

New  Conditions. — Yesterday  and  to-morrow.  My  mother  in 
her  home  and  my  daughter  in  hers.  The  industrial  change. 
The  domestic  change.  The  vocations  open  to  women. 
(References.) 

How  to  Meet  Them. — Education;  physical  training.  (Refer- 
ences.) 

Your  Daughter. — The  young  girl  in  your  home — her  health;  her 
companions;  her  boy  friends;  her  reading;  her  aim;  her 
future.     (References.) 

The  Boy  and  the  Man 

The  Boy  Himself. — Do  you  comprehend  him?  Can  a  mother 
understand  impulses  and  instincts  that  she  has  never  ex- 
perienced? Why  so  few  fathers  remember  the  boy  feelings, 
the  boy  attitude.  Where  the  father  is  needed — his  respon- 
sibility. What  characteristics  in  a  father  most  appeal  to 
his  boy?  How  the  nature  of  a  boy  differs  from  that  of  his 
sister.  Why  does  he  like  to  tease;  to  fight?  Can  a  boy  in 
process  of  development  be  designated  as  "good"  or  "bad"? 
The  boy's  bumps  and  epochs.  His  motives  and  his  failures. 
The  boy's  acquisitiveness.  The  effect  of  having  common 
possessions;  of  collections.  The  wanderlust  and  the  woods — ■ 
Indians  and  cowboys.     (References.) 

His  Requirements. — His  environment;  his  home;  his  family.  His 
friendship;  his  companions — the  gang.  Boy-made  societies. 
Man-made  organizations.     (References.) 

Education  and  Vocation 

New  Demands. — Preparation  for  an  active  life  must  come 
through  participation  in  duties,  opportunities,  privileges. 
How  to  make  this  participation  accessible  to  young  people 
and  interesting  to  them.  Working  "against  the  grain." 
The  "average  boy"  and  his  grievance.  Does  our  modern 
high  school  curriculum  challenge  a  boy's  interest  and  ca- 
pacity? Process  of  formation  versus  information.  An  in- 
consistent and  inadequate  course  of  study  in  the  high  school. 
(References.) 


322  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

Vocational  Education. — The  boy  who  leaves  school  at  fourteen 
— the  reason  for  it;  his  future.  Some  sensible  changes  in 
school  work  proposed.  History  of  the  vocational  move- 
ment— American  and  foreign  experiments.  Vocational 
training  for  girls.     (References.) 

Higher  Education. — Why  send  a  boy  to  college?  Are  the  suc- 
cessful men  to-day  college  men?  Higher  education  of 
women.     (References.) 

Sex  Hygiene. — We  would  add  to  the  above  outlines 
the  subject  of  Sex  Hygiene  as  a  most  timely  one  for 
high  schools  to  discuss  with  adults  of  the  community. 
The  question  as  to  whether  this  subject  shall  or  shall  not 
be  taught  by  the  school  is  still  a  mooted  one,  but  there  is 
no  uncertainty  in  regard  to  its  being  the  duty  of  the 
home.  Yet  the  home  in  many  cases  washes  its  hands  of 
the  whole  thing  simply  because  it  has  not  the  requisite 
information  nor  the  inclination  to  give  the  instruction. 
If  there  is  any  one  duty  above  another  which  to-day  faces 
the  school  it  is  the  duty  this  very  condition  places  upon 
it — to  help  open  the  eyes  of  the  home  to  its  responsi- 
bility in  this  matter  and  to  break  this  apparent  "con- 
spiracy of  silence."  If  it  is  true  that  a  very  large  part 
of  ethical  wrong  living  has  to  do  with  sex  life  and  that 
the  evil  is  increasing  alarmingly;  if  it  is  universally  ac- 
cepted that  this  is  a  home  problem  and  that  it  is  not 
touched  because  of  the  ignorance  of  parents,  then  it 
becomes  a  duty  and  an  obligation  on  the  part  of  educa- 
tors to  educate  that  portion  of  society  about  whom  no 
question  can  be  raised — the  parents  themselves. 

Religious  Education  in  the  Home. — Jointly  with  this 
there  should  be  meetings  held  to  discuss  with  the  parents 
the  subject  of  religious  education  in  the  home.  The  two 
topics  are  most  closely  related.     Our  system  of  educa- 


HOME  AND   SCHOOL   ASSOCIATION  323 

tion  is  arraigned  in  no  uncertain  terms  because  of  its 
failure  to  develop  moral  fibre.  One  of  the  latest  and 
most  daring  charges  is  as  follows:1  "During  the  last 
century  economic  conditions  have  been  regarded  as  of 
greater  importance  and  religion  of  less.  Investigations 
of  earth  and  nature  and  the  utilization  of  all  resources 
have  occupied  a  race  which  has  made  the  spirit  of  Alad- 
din's lamp  a  slave  of  utility;  which  with  greedy  heart 
has  gained  the  whole  world  but  in  the  meantime  has 
heedlessly  forfeited  its  own  soul." 

What  profiteth  it?  thunders  down  through  the  cen- 
turies challenging  the  home  as  never  before.  In  the 
words  of  one  who  has  made  the  period  of  adolescence  his 
special  study,  we  would  say  to  those  dealing  with  high 
school  boys  and  girls:2  "If  you  have  no  religion  in- 
vent one  for  the  sake  of  the  young  life  about  you.  No 
other  power  will  hold  and  control  the  restless  surge 
of  adolescence  and  guide  it  into  strong  and  efficient  ma- 
turity." 

Such  topics  as  have  been  mentioned  give  a  fair  sam- 
ple of  what  could  be  used  to  advantage  in  any  high 
school  association.  After  the  meeting  is  over  let  it  be 
known  that  the  packet  libraries,  dealing  with  the  subject 
considered  or  the  one  to  be  considered  at  the  next  meet- 
ing, are  ready  for  distribution  in  the  office  of  the  social 
teacher.  Packets  are  to  be  taken  to  the  home  by  mem- 
bers and  kept  for  one  month  or  until  the  date  of  next 
meeting.  Their  signal  service  to  the  home  cannot  fail 
to  react  for  good  upon  the  school  life  of  the  students. 

Social  Centres. — -The  use  of  the  high  school  as  a  social 
centre  is  dealt  with  in  a  separate  chapter.     The  strong 

1  Ellen  Key,  Atlantic  Monthly,  July,  1913. 

2  G.  Stanley  Hall,  Sagamon  Sociological  Conference,  1911. 


324  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

point  of  the  social  centre,  which  develops  as  a  logical 
result  of  a  home  and  school  association,  is  that  it  has  a 
certain  staying  quality  in  it,  a  sense-of-community  claim 
that  social  centres  created  by  agencies  outside  of  the 
school  cannot  have.  The  very  fact  that  fathers  and 
mothers,  older  sisters  and  brothers  gather  here  and 
supervise  by  their  presence,  while  at  the  same  time  they 
enter  into  the  festivities  of  the  young  people,  make  a 
bond  worth  emphasizing.  The  whole  large  question  of 
fraternities  and  sororities  comes  up  in  this  connection. 
The  grievous  evils  growing  out  of  them  would  never 
have  existed  had  the  home  had  a  better  understanding 
of  these  matters.     (See  Chapter  XX.) 

Home  and  School  Visitor. — The  home  and  school  vis- 
itor, another  phase  of  this  movement,  is  generally  sup- 
ported by  the  association  or  one  of  its  affiliated  "bodies, 
while  the  work  is  under  the  direct  control  of  the  school 
authorities.  The  work  of  such  a  social  agent  is  too  well 
known  to  need  discussion  here.  An  article  in  a  recent 
educational  journal  calls  it1  "A  New  Message  to  the 
Home."  This  development  of  the  work  deals  with  the 
student  who  is  "out  of  step,"  which  fact  in  itself  opens 
the  way  naturally  for  the  "visitor"  to  touch  the  home. 
The  effort  deals  almost  entirely  with  .the  detailed  study 
of  the  dependent,  defective,  or  delinquent  youth.  The 
results  from  this  method  of  approach  have  been  marked 
for  good  in  many  cases. 

Vocational  Guidance. — The  growing  need  for  guidance 
in  the  choice  of  a  vocation  on  the  part  of  young  people 
is  opening  another  most  natural  avenue  of  school  ap- 
proach to  its  community,  touching,  as  the  school  does, 
through  this  means  shop  and  factory,  office  and  store  in 

1  Journal  of  Education,  July  10,  1913. 


HOME   AND    SCHOOL   ASSOCIATION  325 

intimate  human  ways.  It  is  right  here  that  the  home 
needs  help  and  can  give  it.  Every  home  and  school 
association  connected  with  a  high  school  should  have  as 
one  of  its  departments  a  committee  on  vocational  gui- 
dance through  which  the  influence  of  the  home  could  be 
reached  and  appropriated  by  the  school.  The  home 
would  be  of  infinitely  more  service  to  its  youth  did  it 
but  know  the  possible  relation  between  the  work  offered 
and  the  ability  of  the  boy  or  girl.  The  school  working 
through  its  accurate  knowledge  and  the  home  through 
its  sympathy  and  understanding  could  in  unison  save 
many  a  young  life  wrecked  because  of  this  lost  opportu- 
nity. Indeed,  we  feel  sure  that  in  most  cases  the  home 
would  do  better  if  it  only  knew  better. 

Home  Making  and  Municipal  Problems. — The  grow- 
ing interest  in  home  making  on  the  part  of  profession 
and  laity  is  one  of  the  hopeful  signs  of  the  getting  to- 
gether of  the  home  and  school.  One  of  its  marked 
features  is  the  way  in  which  mothers  and  daughters  are 
being  swept  with  a  mutual  enthusiasm  through  the  new 
gateway  of  scientific  knowledge  into  woman's  old  realm 
and  are  finding  it  very  good. 

The  same  can  be  said  of  the  eagerness  of  groups  of 
men  and  women  who  are  studying  municipal  problems 
through  the  agency  of  home  and  school  associations. 
The  very  foundations  of  democracy  rest  upon  a  mutual 
understanding  and  co-operation  between  the  existing 
institutions  of  government  and  those  by  whom  these  in- 
stitutions were  created.  It  were  well  could  public  offi- 
cials meet  more  frequently,  in  ways  non-political,  those 
who  have  elected  them  to  their  positions.  This  taking 
into  their  confidence  of  the  people  whom  they  would 
serve  will  go  a  long  way  toward  that  ultimate  ideal  when 


326  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

laws  shall  be  written  in  the  heart  of  a  nation  as  well  as 
upon  her  statute-books. 

The  municipal  departments  of  public  safety,  of  public 
works,  and  public  health,  the  boards  of  judges  and  of 
trade,  together  with  the  chief  executive  himself,  all  have 
a  message  from  the  city's  centre  for  the  homes  that 
have  been  or  should  be  awakened  to  their  moral  obliga- 
tions to  the  public  life.  There  remains  a  large  service 
for  the  home  makers  to  render  to  such  corporate  bodies. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  boards  of  education.  As  it 
is  to-day,  one  often  asks  oneself  the  question:  Why 
should  an  agitation  be  carried  on  about  the  things  to 
which  the  home  is  opposed  when  the  people  themselves 
are  so  far  removed  from  any  reasonable  method  of  ap- 
proach to  their  boards  of  education?  Does  the  home 
object  to  large  classes,  to  long  hours,  to  home  study,  a 
lack  of  playgrounds,  or  to  the  fact  that  teachers  are 
poorly  paid?  So  completely  are  the  people  disfranchised 
in  most  cases  as  regards  their  school  affairs  that  no 
popular  movement  is  effective  except  through  indirection. 

Ultimate  Goal. — From  what  better  centre  of  influence 
could  such  movements  as  we  have  considered  radiate 
than  from  the  high  school?  Set  as  it  almost  universally 
is  at  the  apex  of  our  system  of  education,  why  should 
it  not  institute  some  plan  for  the  direction  of  community 
activities?  A  system  that  will  mean  much  more  than 
censorship  or  control,  a  system  that  will  make  of  the 
high  school  a  clearing-house  for  the  human  wealth  of  its 
community — this  will  bring  about  in  natural  ways  a 
co-operation  between  the  forces  that  are  moulding  our 
future  citizens.  When  social  efficiency  is  given  its  place 
in  the  general  scheme  of  education,  the  social  teacher's 
work  is  standardized  and  his  professional  technic  de- 


HOME   AND   SCHOOL   ASSOCIATION  327 

veloped  into  a  system,  then  will  the  "right  arm"  of  the 
school  be  brought  into  a  service  that  is  filled  with  prom- 
ise and  power  of  larger  social  good. 

"The  common  problem — yours,  mine,  every  one's — 
Is  not  to  fancy  what  were  fair  in  life, 
Provided  it  could  be;  but  finding  first 
What  may  be,  then  find  how  to  make  it  fair 
Up  to  our  means." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  SCHOOL'S  CO-OPERATIVE  AGENCIES 

Stanton  Olinger,  M.A.,  B.D. 

PRINCIPAL   WESTMINSTER  HALL,   LAWRENCE,   KANS. 

The  School  a  Social  Creation. — The  school  is  a  crea- 
tion of  society  to  fulfil  a  needful  function.  It  there- 
fore serves  its  purpose  best  when  a  vital  and  intimate 
interrelationship  is  established  between  it  and  the  com- 
munity to  which  it  ministers. 

If  education  is  to  fulfil  its  mission  to  present  society, 
all  of  the  social  forces  that  are  related  to  the  educative 
process  should  be  correlated  and  converge  upon  the  sub- 
ject and  object  of  education — namely,  the  growing  child. 

Many  social  forces  influence  the  education  and  devel- 
opment of  the  child,  such  as  home,  school,  pulpit,  press, 
theatre,  and  the  community.  It  is  generally  conceded 
by  schoolmen  that  the  home  and  school  exercise  a  more 
determining  and  direct  influence  upon  the  child  than  do 
any  other  institutions.  The  relation  of  the  home  and 
the  school  in  the  education  of  the  youth  is,  therefore,  of 
primary  importance.  It  should  be  vital,  positive,  and 
harmonious. 

Criticisms  of  the  School. — Frequently,  however,  the 
attitude  of  the  parents  to  the  school  is  one  of  indifference 
and  sometimes  of  antagonism.  In  many  localities  a  great 
gulf  seems  to  exist  between  the  school  and  the  commu- 

328 


THE  SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVE  AGENCIES     329 

nity.  Practical  people  often  look  upon  the  school  as  im- 
practical. The  many  current  magazine  criticisms  of  the 
school,  while  often  unjust  and  not  to  the  point,  never- 
theless are  an  index  to  popular  dissatisfaction. 

The  Criticisms  of  the  School  Not  Fully  Justified.— The 
school  of  the  present  is  not  less  efficient  than  in  the  past; 
but,  in  consideration  of  the  new  functions  that  have  been 
given  it,  it  is  not  relatively  accomplishing  its  purpose  as 
in  the  past.  This  situation  is  due  largely  to  the  unusual 
rapidity  with  which  the  social  consciousness  has  been 
developing.  The  term  citizenship  has  come  to  have  a 
much  broader  significance  than  formerly.  We  are  com- 
ing to  see  that  no  man  can  live  unto  himself  and  that 
citizenship  means  membership  in  the  community.  A 
good  citizen  will  identify  his  interests  with  the  collective 
interests  of  the  public.  We  are  recognizing  the  organic 
unity  of  society  as  never  before.  Pulpit,  press,  clubs, 
and  many  organizations  are  stressing  the  development 
of  the  social  consciousness.  The  position  of  the  school 
must  be  readjusted  to  this  new  meaning  of  education. 

These  criticisms,  however,  contain  certain  elements  of 
truth.  They  are  not  altogether  just  for  the  following 
reasons:  first,  what  can  be  accomplished  with  immature 
minds  of  limi  ted  experience  is  often  overestimated;  second, 
the  school,  like  all  other  institutions, 'should  not  seek  to  in- 
troduce changes  too  rapidly.  Changes  should  be  brought 
about  with  a  certain  degree  of  conservatism  and  delibera- 
tion. In  the  third  place,  society  as  an  organism  develops 
regularly  in  an  orderly,  not  haphazard,  way.  Adaptation 
and  co-ordination,  therefore,  may  become  artificial  if  too 
great  pressure  is  brought  to  bear  in  producing  a  change. 
This  time  element,  on  general  principles,  should  be  recog- 
nized in  all  progressive  movements.     Since  the  school  is 


330  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  expression  of  community  ideals,  the  responsibility 
belongs  to  the  entire  community.  However,  in  the  divi- 
sion of  labor  necessitated  by  the  increasing  complexity 
of  modern  life,  the  schools  have  been  more  or  less  set 
apart  from  the  community  life.  There  has,  in  conse- 
quence, developed  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  citizens 
to  delegate  the  entire  education  of  their  children  to  the 
schools.  The  result  has  been  that  the  home  and  the 
school  have  grown  apart. 

Causes  for  Separation  of  Home  and  School. — There 
are  at  least  two  other  contributing  causes  to  the  distance 
between  the  schools  and  the  home.  One  is  the  economic 
condition  of  the  home.  With  the  vast  majority  of  fami- 
lies the  parents  are  preoccupied.  The  business  of  mak- 
ing a  living  is  so  strenuous  that  they  feel  they  have 
little  time  and  energy  left  for  active  participation  in  the 
life  of  the  school.  The  other  is  that  the  method  of  in- 
struction is  technical.  The  courses  of  study  and  cur- 
riculums  have  little  meaning  to  the  average  parent.  Thus 
the  separation  of  home  and  school  has  come  about  natu- 
rally. The  modern  social  movement,  in  one  of  its  phases, 
is  an  attempt  to  bring  home  and  school  into  closer  rela- 
tionship. Here,  as  elsewhere,  retrospection  may  teach 
us  a  valuable  lesson. 

The  Teacher  Formerly  a  Part  of  the  Community. — In 
the  pioneer  days,  when  the  community  was  less  popu- 
lous, the  teacher  was  naturally  more  a  part  of  the  com- 
munity than  at  present.  He  was  acquainted  with  the 
patrons  and  was  often  received  into  their  homes.  This 
afforded  the  opportunity  to  discuss  school  problems;  and 
the  old-fashioned  school-teacher  talked  about  his  work. 
He  had  a  personal  interest  in  each  child. in  the  commu- 
nity.    The  school  and  its  work  were  often  the  principal 


THE   SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVH   AGENCIES      331 

topic  of  conversation  in  the  family  circle.  But  to-day, 
with  the  daily  papers,  magazines,  telephones,  trolley- 
cars,  and  automobiles,  both  parent  and  children  arc  too 
much  preoccupied  to  make  the  school  the  chief  topic  of 
conversation;  not  even  when  the  teacher  visits  in  the 
homes  of  the  community. 

The  activities  that  centred  about  the  school  building 
itself  formerly  exercised  a  determining  influence  in  bring- 
ing home  and  school  into  closer  relationship.  Here  the 
debating  and  literary  societies  met;  here  the  politicians 
of  every  party  came  with  their  campaign  speeches;  the 
preachers  of  every  denomination  were  welcomed  and 
listened  to;  even  the  "wandering  astronomer"  and  "peri- 
patetic lecturer  on  phrenology"  were  granted  a  respectful 
hearing.  "Socials,"  spelling-bees,  school  exhibitions, 
and  "last-day"  exercises  all  had  a  tendency  to  establish 
a  strong  and  vital  union  between  home  and  school. 

The  Formation  of  a  Home  and  School  Association. — 
Perhaps  the  most  effective  way  to  establish  a  closer  bond 
of  relationship  between  the  home  and  the  school  is  the 
formation  of  home  and  school  associations.  These  or- 
ganizations should  include  all  of  the  school's  voluntary 
co-operative  agencies  such  as  women's  and  mothers' 
clubs,  and  citizens'  leagues;  also  such  patriotic  and  relig- 
ious orders  as  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  the 
Ladies'  Circle  and  Relief  Corps,  the  Daughters  of  the 
American  Revolution,  the  Women's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations,  the  churches,  and  other  organ- 
izations that  have  for  their  object  the  public  welfare. 

These  Agencies  Are  the  School's  Definite  Social  As- 
sets.— In  view  of  the  present  wide-spread  interest  in  the 
public  schools,  the  insistent  need  is  for  some  method  of 


332  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

co-operation.  This  can  be  accomplished  through  a  cen- 
tral organization  with  which  the  various  unofficial  vol- 
untary organizations  may  be  affiliated,  as  has  been  done 
in  Philadelphia  and  Boston.  In  some  places  these  or- 
ganizations are  too  numerous  to  accomplish  the  best 
results  by  each  working  independently  of  the  others. 
Often  there  is  duplication  of  effort,  and  many  important 
school  problems  remain  untouched. 

A  recent  investigation  in  New  York  disclosed  two  hun- 
dred "outside"  organizations  co-operating  with  schools. 
There  is  evidently  a  great  opportunity  for  the  federation 
of  the  co-operative  agencies.  On  investigation  in  many 
other  cities,  and  even  in  villages,  perhaps  we  should  find 
many  independent  agencies  already  co-operating  with  the 
school ;  and  the  effectiveness  of  such  co-operation  might 
be  greatly  increased  by  the  general  federation  of  clubs 
suggested. 

The  Purpose  of  the  Federation. — The  ultimate  pur- 
pose of  a  federation  is  to  establish  a  sympathetic  co- 
operation of  all  the  social  forces  that  have  to  do  with  the 
developing  of  citizens  for  the  republic.  However,  the 
immediate  benefits  that  may  accrue  to  the  community 
are  many  and  definite.  There  is  the  spiritual  or  psychic, 
with  its  welding  process  in  all  of  its  social  aspects.  The 
material  and  physical  results  are  conspicuous  and  signifi- 
cant. The  charitable,  moral,  and  religious  values  are 
apparent. 

The  Spiritual  or  Psychic  Aspects. — The  home  and 
school  association  promotes  social  sympathy.  In  the 
first  place,  a  central  organized  federation,  as  the  home 
and  school  association,  affords  an  opportunity  for  a 
mutual  understanding  between  parent  and  teacher  by 
bringing  the  school  and  community  into  a  closer  and 


THE   SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES      333 

more  vital  relationship.  It  establishes  a  common  bond 
of  unity  between  the  teacher  and  the  constituents  of  the 
school.  Mrs.  Grice,  in  her  little  book  "Home  and 
School,"  bears  testimony  as  follows:  "The  old  traditional 
ideas  are  being  reconstructed.  Unless  the  forces  of 
home  and  school  take  counsel  together  they  will  inevi- 
tably to  some  extent  neutralize  each  other's  work  and 
weaken  its  results."  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh  speaks 
likewise:  "The  key-note  of  our  civilization  is  participa- 
tion and  not  competition.  This  is  true  of  our  industrial 
progress  as  well  as  our  social  progress.  Applying  this  to 
our  educational  progress,  there  arises  this  general  princi- 
ple: educational  progress  of  the  best  sort  is  conditioned 
upon  the  harmonious  participation  of  all  the  forces  that 
work  upon  the  growing  child." 

Any  agency  that  will  bring  the  parents  and  teachers 
together  for  a  friendly  and  sympathetic  discussi'on  of 
their  common  problems  is  almost  sure  to  result  in  mutual 
advantage.  The  teacher  gets  the  view-point  of  the  par- 
ent and  sees  the  pupil  from  the  standpoint  of  the  home 
environment.  The  most  efficient  teacher  will  thus  be 
led  to  instruct  the  pupil  in  the  light  of  the  home.  Meth- 
ods employed  with  one  type  of  pupil  may  be  entirely 
satisfactory  and  successful,  while  with  another  type 
they  may  be  an  utter  failure.  The  bright  child  who  has 
a  disposition  averse  to  industry  demands  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent procedure  from  the  dull  child  who  is  industrious. 
The  education  of  the  spoiled  and  pampered  child  and  the 
one  upon  whom  heavy  home  burdens  are  placed,  and  the 
education  of  the  child  from  the  cultured  and  the  refined 
home  and  the  one  from  the  crude  and  the  unrefined 
home,  should  be  approached  from  different  angles.  The 
teacher  should  know  the  child's  encouragements  and  dis- 


334  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

couragements.  The  parent,  on  the  other  hand,  appreci- 
ates more  fully  the  view-point  of  the  school  and  gets  a 
better  understanding  of  the  aims  of  the  school.  The 
parent  comes  to  know  more  fully  what  the  school  ex- 
pects of  the  child,  and  why.  The  reciprocal  relation- 
ships between  parent  and  teacher  are  more  clearly  seen 
by  each  other.  It  leads  to  a  practical  and  intelligent  co- 
operation and  promotes  a  closer  companionship  between 
parent  and  child. 

Such  a  Federation  Makes  the  Heterogeneous  Homo- 
geneous.— The  home  arid  school  association  secured  by 
such  federation  not  only  promotes  sympathy  between 
parents  and  teachers,  but  it  mediates  in  welding  into  a 
spiritual  unity  the  constituents  of  the  school.  The  in- 
fluence of  a  central  organization  pervades  the  entire  com- 
munity. It  has  a  tendency  to  make  a  heterogeneous 
population  homogeneous  by  offering  a  common  bond  of 
interest.  When  the  community  interest  centres  about 
the  school  co-operation  naturally  follows. 

Group  action  becomes  possible  through  the  process  of 
social  co-ordination,  which  in  turn  is  brought  about  by 
the  co-ordination  or  co-operation  of  individuals  in  a  pur- 
posive activity.  The  instrument  by  which  a  harmonious 
co-ordination  among  individuals  in  social  relationships 
is  established  is  sympathy  and  mutual  understanding. 
Only  individuals  who  are  sympathetic  with  each  other 
and  understand  each  other  are  capable  of  working  to- 
gether for  a  common  end. 

Every  social  group  should,  therefore,  seek  to  develop 
the  spirit  of  like-mindedness  among  its  members  and  pro- 
mote their  mutual  acquaintanceship.  Individual  differ- 
ences in  reaction  to  the  same  social  stimuli  may  safely 
be  trusted  to  act  as  a  sufficient  safeguard  against  monot- 


THE   SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES      335 

ony,  insuring  variety.  The  harmonious  co-ordination  of 
activities  thus  brought  about  produces  a  high  type  of 
mental  stimuli— "mind  sharpens  mind."  It  is  a  means 
to  a  liberal  education. 

A  concrete  illustration  will  serve  to  enforce  these 
fundamental  principles  of  social  co-ordination.  Mr. 
Clarence  A.  Perry,  in  the  "Wider  Use  of  the  School 
Plant,"  speaks  of  an  occasion  when  the  women  of  Roch- 
ester, who  were  nearly  all  American-born,  were  "at 
home"  to  the  Italian  Men's  Club.  The  hostess  pre- 
sented the  guests  with  a  silk  Italian  flag  for  their  club. 
The  men  reciprocated  by  giving  the  women  a  large  pic- 
ture of  George  Washington.  Such  gatherings  as  these 
make  it  possible  for  us  to  appreciate  the  sentiment,  pri- 
vately expressed  on  this  occasion,  that  "people  who  are 
so  different  are  so  much  the  same." 

Thus  the  co-ordination  of  the  co-operative  agencies  of 
the  school  welds  together  the  individuals  and  groups  of 
the  community.  Good-will,  mutual  understanding,  and 
mutual  trust  result.  The  formation  of  a  spiritual  or 
psychic  unity,  then,  is  the  first  step  in  organizing  for  so- 
cial activity. 

Federation  Produces  Public  Opinion. — The  binding 
together  of  the  co-operative  activities  about  a  common 
purpose  has  a  tendency  to  create  public  opinion.  In  a 
highly  dynamic  democracy  such  as  ours,  the  help  of  pub- 
lic opinion  is  desirable  and  even  indispensable  in  the  pro- 
motion of  social  activities. 

Since  our  educational  institutions  are  subject  to  con- 
stant readjustments,  it  is  desirable  that  the  change  come 
about  gradually  and  easily.  Otherwise,  institutions  may 
become  so  fixed  and  conservative  that  readjustments  can 
be  secured  only  through  the  revolutionary  process. 


33G  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

In  the  formation  of  public  opinion,  communication  in 
all  its  varied  forms  is  the  mediative  instrument.  Dis- 
cussion not  only  stimulates  mentality  and  furnishes  new 
ideas,  but  certain  elements  in  the  situation  are  selected 
as  valuable  for  the  social  process  under  consideration. 
Thus,  by  the  co-ordination  of  ideas  that  become  relatively 
fixed  through  discussion,  the  rational  judgment  of  many 
individuals  in  a  purposive  action  may  be  readily  and  nat- 
urally brought  about  by  the  several  forms  of  communi- 
cation, such  as  language,  press,  free  assembly,  etc. 

Public  Opinion  and  the  Home  and  School  Association. 
— In  a  highly  complex  democracy  social  progress  and 
readjustment  are  impossible  without  the  rational  co- 
operation of  the  mass  of  citizens.  Such  co-operation  is 
secured  only  by  the  formation  of  an  intelligent  public 
opinion.  No  other  organization  in  the  community  is  so 
well  adapted  to  form  a  harmonious  rational  public  opin- 
ion relative  to  the  functions,  aims,  and  purposes  of  the 
school  as  a  home  and  school  association. 

Material  Benefits. — By  welding  the  individuals  and 
groups  of  the  community  together  through  the  instru- 
ment of  a  common  purpose,  such  a  federation  as  that  for 
which  we  are  arguing  secures  many  material  benefits  to 
the  school.  The  people  of  the  community  are  thereby 
informed,  interested,  and  have  a  will  to  increase  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  school. 

Writing  of  the  work  of  the  Home  and  School  League 
of  Philadelphia,  Mrs.  Grice  says  that  it  has  brought  the 
public  into  closer  relationship  with  the  school  by  the 
organization  of  social  centres  and  the  opening  of  the 
buildings  for  evening  meetings  and  classes.  In  several 
schools  classes  for  dancing,  games,  instruction  in  sewing 
and  embroidery,  in  reading  and  dramatic  recitation,  in 


THE   SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES      337 

handicraft  of  various  sorts,  housework,  and  home  making, 
and  physical  training  have  been  opened.      All  of  this 
could  have  been  secured  in  no  other  way  than  !>\  a  help 
ful  co-operation  of  the  public. 

Other  organizations  have  contributed  to  the  welfare 
of  the  school.  The  G.  A.  R.  and  the  Ladies'  Cir<  le  and 
Corps  have  been  active  in  promoting  a  patriotic  senti- 
ment by  the  gifts  of  flags,  pictures,  and  statues  of  patri- 
ots, and  by  arranging  for  public  addresses  and  sending  out 
literature  on  the  subject  of  patriotism.  The  \V.  C.  II 
has  been  instrumental  in  cultivating  a  sentiment  in  favor 
of  temperance  by  sending  out  leaflets,  making  public 
addresses,  and  offering  prizes  for  the  best  essays  on  some 
phase  of  the  temperance  question.  The  D.  A.  R.  has 
been  active  in  providing  programmes  and  speakers  on 
patriotism  and  allied  subjects.  In  Montclair,  N.  J.,  the 
playground  movement  was  conducted  by  a  chapter  of 
the  D.  A.  R.,  the  Board  of  Education  assuming  half  the 
responsibility  for  the  expense. 

In  some  towns  the  women's  clubs  have  taken  charge 
of  the  musical  interests  of  the  community,  and  have  been 
instrumental  in  introducing  music  in  the  schools  and 
securing  private  lessons  and  instruments  for  the  pupils  at 
a  nominal  price.  In  co-operation  with  the  superinten- 
dent, they  have  provided  popular  musical  entertainments 
to  raise  money  and  to  cultivate  the  taste  of  the  pupils. 
In  Portland  the  orchestras  and  glee-clubs  of  the  schools 
give  concerts  for  parents.  In  Richmond,  Ind.,  all  musi- 
cal bodies  meet  in  the  auditorium  of  the  school.  In  Bos- 
ton a  garden  for  ungraded  children  is  maintained  by  the 
parents'  association.  More  than  eight  hundred  dollars 
was  spent  on  decorations  for  classrooms  and  assembly 
hall,  besides  other  funds  on  pure  milk  and  blankets  for 


338  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  anaemic  class,  a  piano,  and  equipment  for  crippled 
children.  The  board  of  education  has  no  funds  for 
such  activities.  In  Richmond,  Va.,  every  public  school 
has  an  active  mothers'  club  working  for  its  best  welfare. 
By  federating  themselves  these  mothers  organized  a  com- 
plete co-operative  system  between  the  schools,  city  offi- 
cials, and  the  volunteer  organizations.  As  a  result,  play- 
grounds have  been  established  in  almost  every  school 
yard.  A  nurse  has  been  placed  in  the  school,  and  several 
schools  have  had  the  continuous  service  of  visiting  nurses 
on  the  playground  in  case  of  accidents.  Medical  inspec- 
tion and  dental  treatment  have  been  introduced.  In  one 
town  the  fathers'  club  raised  two  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars to  improve  the  school  grounds.  In  another  place 
they  maintained,  for  seven  years,  school  gardens.  The 
National  Congress  for  Mothers  for  sixteen  years  has  been 
actively  engaged  in  the  organization  of  parent-teacher 
associations.1 

Summary  of  Material  Benefits. — While  it  would  per- 
haps be  impossible  to  give  a  complete  summary  of  all  the 
material  benefits  that  have  been  secured  for  the  school 
through  the  co-operative  agencies  here  referred  to,  the 
following  are  perhaps  the  more  important:  The  im- 
provement of  sanitary  conditions  in  school  buildings  and 
grounds  and  cleaner  streets  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
school  and  home  have  resulted.  By  planting  trees, 
shrubs,  and  vines  the  grounds  have  been  beautified. 
The  architecture  of  the  school  buildings  has  been  im- 
proved, playgrounds  opened  up,  flower  gardens  planted, 
sanitary  drinking  fountains  installed,  and  circulating 
libraries  established.     Flags,  pictures,  statuary,  books, 

1  Literature  on  the  methods,  aims,  and  results  may  be  received  by  ad- 
dressing The  Congress,  806  Loan  and  Trust  Building,  Washington,  D.  C. 


THE   SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES     339 

musical  instruments,  needed  equipment,  mw  buildings 
and  additions  have  been  secured.  The  care  for  the  health 
of  children  through  medical  and  dental  inspection  lias 
been  introduced.  The  active  interest  and  support  of  the 
administrative  officers  in  matters  relative  to  increased 
efficiency  have  been  realized,  teachers'  salaries  have  been 
increased,  needed  legislation  has  been  enacted.  Curfew 
and  supervision  of  playgrounds  have  resulted.  The 
problems  of  tardiness  and  discipline  have  been  to  an 
encouraging  degree  solved  and  the  general  school  spirit 
improved. 

If  all  of  the  agencies  co-operating  with  the  school  were 
federated,  better  results  could  be  attained  without  dupli- 
cation of  effort. 

Private  Gifts  as  a  Result  of  the  Federation  Are  Pro- 
moted.— The  federation  of  the  co-operative  agencies  of 
the  school,  by  creating  a  spirit  of  solidarity  and  interest 
in  the  public  welfare,  has  a  tendency  to  promote  private 
gifts  in  the  interest  of  the  school. 

The  general  interest  now  manifested  in  the  public 
school  might  be  greatly  increased.  Elsa  Denison,  in 
''Helping  School  Children,"  calls  attention  to  the  gift  of 
$41,500  by  Mr.  Martin  A.  Ryerson,  of  Chicago,  to  deco- 
rate one  school  building  as  a  model  for  others.  Another 
friend  of  the  school  selects  each  year  from  the  exhibition 
of  the  Chicago  Society  of  Artists  one  picture  for  a  school. 
In  Dubuque  a  group  of  women  placed  statuary  and  finely 
framed  photographs  in  every  schoolroom.  Miss  Whit- 
ney, of  New  York,  through  a  gift  of  $10,000,  has  been  in- 
strumental in  arousing  a  wide  interest  in  the  dental  need, 
and  is  helping  tens  of  thousands  instead  of  thousands.  It 
is  stated  that  there  are  in  the  United  States  10,000,000 
school  children  suffering  from  the  direct  effect  of  decaying 


340  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

teeth  and  unsanitary  mouths.1  Mr.  W.  R.  Burt,  of  Sagi- 
naw, Mich.,  has  given  generously  to  the  public  schools 
and  thereby  stimulated  the  entire  city  in  educational 
progress.  The  little  village  of  Menomonie,  Wis.,  is  an 
example  of  what  a  favorable  public  sentiment  may  ac- 
complish. It  is  said  that  the  school  system  there  is 
ideal.  This  distinction,  perhaps,  is  due  largely  to  Mr. 
James  H.  Stout,  whose  liberality  is  responsible  for  a 
splendidly  equipped  manual  training  building  and  a 
$75,000  gymnasium  which  he  maintains.  The  business 
men  of  Columbus,  Ga.,  contributed  $10,000  to  the 
schools.  Bequests  from  private  sources  of  $120,000  in 
Oshkosh,  $2,000,000  in  Muskegon,  $75,000  in  Saginaw 
made  buildings  and  equipment  possible  that  could  not 
have  been  secured  through  the  regular  official  channels 
for  years.  Through  small  gifts  in  many  other  places, 
books,  pictures,  utensils,  apparatus,  scholarships,  prizes, 
and  furniture  have  been  secured.  Kindergartens,  play- 
grounds, school  gardens,  athletics  have  been  made  possi- 
ble through  private  gifts. 

1  i  The  School  a  Proper  Basis  of  Charity  Operation. — As 
a  result  of  the  spirit  of  solidarity  and  community  interest, 
the  school  may  become  the  basis  for  charity  operations. 
No  other  institution  is  so  well  adapted  to  become  a  clear- 
ing-house for  social  service  as  the  school.  No  other  in- 
stitution understands  so  fully  and  comes  in  such  vital 
contact  with  so  many  who  are  in  need  of  charitable 
assistance  as  the  school.  The  school,  also,  is  in  position 
to  do  this  service  with  as  little  unjust  discrimination 
and  undesirable  publicity  as  possible.  Many  schools  have 
been  the  medium  of  distributing  clothing,  provisions, 
and  other  necessities.     Private  gifts  for  this  service  are 

Venison,  op.  cit.,  p.  262. 


THE   SCHOOL'S    CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES      341 

secured  with  little  difficulty.  One  superintendent  writes: 
"We  find  the  people  ready  to  respond  to  every  call  of 
need." 

The  Moral  and  Religious  Problem. — With  commu- 
nity interest  and  the  increased  equipment  that  is  almost 
certain  to  follow,  the  school  may  become  a  social  centre. 
Evening  entertainments,  consisting  of  lectures,  stereop- 
ticon  shows,  concerts,  debates,  socials,  athletic  exercises 
and  contests,  may  become  a  part  of  the  school's  regular 
activities.  Thus  the  opportunity  is  afforded  to  the 
whole  community  for  a  natural  and  healthful  expression 
of  social  relationships.  One  of  the  important  elements 
in  the  solution  of  the  moral  and  religious  problem  is  the 
provision  for  wholesome  recreation.  By  affording  an 
avenue  for  social  activity,  the  delinquent  of  the  com- 
munity are  often  reclaimed.  It  is  said  that  knowledge 
alone  does  not  make  good  citizens.  Public  morality 
demands  a  wholesome  recreation.  "Formation  is  bet- 
ter than  reformation." 

A  wholesome  recreation  has  a  tendency  to  reclaim  the 
youth  from  the  street  and  amusements  of  a  vicious  char- 
acter, and  also  to  displace  evil  forces  such  as  the  saloon, 
the  public  dance-hall  of  questionable  character,  and 
moving-picture  shows  of  the  wrong  kind.  The  way  to 
keep  the  youth  away  from  places  of  degrading  influence 
is  not  to  cry  "don't"  but  offer  an  alluring  activity  in 
competition.  Dean  Sumner,  president  of  the  vice  com- 
mission of  Chicago,  states  that  the  contributing  causes  to 
the  social  evil  are  bad  housing  and  economic  conditions, 
ignorance,  despair  and  discouragement,  social  allure- 
ments, and  lack  of  a  place  to  go  for  honest,  simple,  clean 
recreation.  Nearly  all,  if  not  all,  of  these  evils  might  be 
largely  corrected  by  arousing  a  public  sentiment  that 


342  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

will  make  possible,  through  the  agencies  which  may  be 
made  to  co-operate  with  the  school,  a  larger  use  of  the 
school  plant,  where  a  simple,  honest,  and  natural  recrea- 
tion may  result. 

The  Present  Status. — Although  the  "home  and 
school"  associations,  wherever  initiated  and  intelligently 
operated,  have  proved  to  be  of  direct  benefit  to  the 
school,  yet  there  are  many  schoolmen  indifferent  to  this 
aspect  of  modern  education.  A  few  are  hostile  to  the 
new  movement  and  object  to  "outside"  activities  inter- 
fering with  the  regular  order  of  the  school.  Some  su- 
perintendents contend  that  there  is  no  need  of  any 
co-operation  except  from  the  school  board.  One  super- 
intendent said  to  the  writer:  "My  board  is  made  up  of 
wide-awake,  intelligent  citizens  who  are  progressive  and 
supply  all  the  needs  of  the  school."  Another  superin- 
tendent stated  to  the  writer  that  he  did  not  encourage 
parent-teacher  associations,  because,  in  a  place  where  he 
had  formerly  been  superintendent,  the  board  of  educa- 
tion and  a  group  of  club  women  disagreed  about  fitting 
up  some  basement  rooms.  Later  on  in  the  conversation 
he  mentioned  five  needs  of  his  school,  all  of  which  have 
been  supplied  in  other  places  by  some  of  these  outside 
agencies. 

On  the  other  hand,  schoolmen  who  see  the  necessity 
for  a  readjustment  of  the  school  to  meet  social  needs  and 
utilize  these  co-operative  agencies  to  this  end  are  en- 
thusiastic over  the  new  functional  possibilities  of  the 
school. 

A  Recent  Investigation. — An  investigation  of  the  work 
of  the  agencies  which  now  co-operate  with  the  school, 
made  in  one  of  the  comparatively  new  States  of  the  Mid- 
dle West  containing  only  a  few  cities  with  over  30,000 


THE   SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES     343 

inhabitants,  brought  out  facts  which  may  be  taken  as 
typical  of  many  other  localities.  The  following  question- 
naire relative  to  the  co-operative  agencies  of  the  school 
was  sent  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  schoolmen  of 
the  State: 

i.  (a)  Is  there  a  mothers',  parents',  or  citizens'  club  in  your 
community? 
(b)  Is  one  of  its  primary  objects  the  welfare  of  the  school 
children? 

2.  (a)  Form  of  organization,  and  how  are  the  officers  elected? 

(b)  Are  they  chosen  with  a  view  to  fitness  and  efficiency, 

and  in  what  respects? 

(c)  Should  the  superintendent  or  principal  use  any  personal 

influence  in  the  selection  of  officers?     Why? 

3.  What  relation  should  the  superintendent  and  the  principal 

sustain  to  the  organization?  Please  give  reasons  for  your 
position. 

4.  Please  state  what  you  consider  the  advantages  accruing  to 

the  school  from  such  organizations,  giving  illustrations  of 
any  reforms  or  progressive  movements  or  other  direct 
benefits  that  may  be  traced  to  the  co-operation  of  these 
organizations  and  the  school. 

5.  Are  there  any  dangers  for  the  school  in  this  co-operative 

alliance  with  an  outside  social  force? 

6.  Where  does  the  club  hold  its  meeting?     How  often?     What 

is  the  nature  of  the  programme? 
7;  How  may  these  organizations  be  more  generally  and  more 

effectively  utilized  for  the  development  of  the  school? 
8.  Please  state  in  detail  as  far  as  possible  how  such  a  club 

should  be  started  and  then  fully  organized. 

Thirty-two  replies  were  received.  Only  five  out  of 
thirty  college  presidents  and  college  professors  of  educa- 
tion on  the  list  responded.  The  replies  show  that  only 
sixteen  schools  have  some  kind  of  voluntary,  unofficial 
organization  in  connection  with  the  school.  Fourteen 
report  that  the  primary  object  of  the  organization  is  the 


344  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

welfare  of  the  school  children.  Thirteen  state  that  the 
officers  are  elected  at  a  mass  meeting  by  popular  vote 
and  are  chosen  with  a  view  to  fitness  and  efficiency.  In 
two  towns  the  officers  are  elected  at  a  public  meeting 
called  by  the  United  Women's  Clubs.  In  one  place  the 
election  is  under  the  auspices  of  the  Women's  Christian 
Temperance  Union. 

Of  the  sixteen  superintendents  and  principals  of 
schools  having  co-operating  agencies,  eleven  believe  that 
the  superintendent  and  principal  should  exercise  personal 
influence  in  the  selection  of  the  officers.  Four  state  that 
the  superintendent  and  principal  should  act  only  in  an 
advisory  capacity.  One  says  that  they  should  be  "inter- 
ested listeners  only."  The  entire  sixteen  are  convinced 
that  the  principal  and  superintendent  should  sustain  a 
vital  relation  to  the  organization,  encouraging,  inspiring, 
and  directing.  The  superintendent  and  principal'  may 
be  chosen  as  officers  if  qualified  persons  are  not  available. 
As  a  general  principle,  however,  it  is  better  to  select  the 
officers  from  the  school's  constituents.  The  exact  rela- 
tion of  the  superintendent  and  principal  to  the  organi- 
zation should  be  determined  by  local  conditions. 

Advantages  That  Will  Accrue  to  the  School. — Twelve 
of  the  fourteen  superintendents  and  principals  who  have 
first-hand  knowledge  of  the  voluntary,  unofficial  organi- 
zations in  connection  with  the  school  state  that  they  are 
able  to  see  definite  and  positive  benefits  resulting  to  the 
school  from  such  organizations.  These  advantages  may 
be  summarized  as  follows:  the  organization  improves 
the  educational  sentiment  in  the  community  by  en- 
lightening the  community  upon  the  present-day  move- 
ments in  their  relation  to  the  school;  it  brings  about  a 
closer  acquaintance  and  a  better  understanding  between 


THE   SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES     345 

teachers  and  parents;  its  serves  as  an  opportunity  to  pro- 
mote civic  pride  among  the  children;  it  gives  an  oppor- 
tunity to  present  the  needs  of  the  school;  it  may  be 
instrumental  in  procuring  additional  funds  for  an  in- 
creased equipment,  interior  decorations,  and  additional 
playgrounds,  etc. 

One  superintendent  writes  that  he  is  not  favorably 
impressed  with  the  home  and  school  associations.  His 
reply  is  significant:  "I  have  had  little  experience  with 
them.  The  ones  that  I  have  known  were  a  nuisance  to 
the  administration,  running  off  at  some  tangent."  It  is 
true  that  the  home  and  school  association  may  be  a  nui- 
sance and  run  "off  at  some  tangent,"  but  is  it  not  possi- 
ble to  guide  this  interest  into  useful  channels  and  utilize 
it  for  definite  ends,  as  many  superintendents  have  done? 

To  the  question,  Are  there  dangers  to  be  guarded 
against  in  the  school's  co-operation  in  this  way  with  an 
outside  agency?  the  answers  show  a  diversity  of  opinion. 
The  six  superintendents  of  cities  of  the  first  class  who 
answered  the  questionnaire  are  agreed,  except  one,  that 
there  are  dangers  for  the  school  in  a  co-operative  alli- 
ance with  outside  social  forces  against  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  provide  safeguards,  while  seven  of  the  ten  su- 
perintendents and  principals  of  cities  of  second  class  who 
have  had  experience  with  outside  social  agencies  co- 
operating with  the  school  foresee  no  dangers.  This 
diversity  of  opinion  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  in 
the  larger  centres  the  social  situation  is  more  complex 
and  dangers  that  threaten  the  school  are  more  likely  to 
arise  from  the  school's  co-operative  agencies.  However, 
the  five  superintendents  who  see  the  dangers  believe  that 
through  intelligent  counsel  and  efficient  leadership  the 
evils  may  be  avoided. 


346  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Weekly  or  bimonthly  meetings  are  held  generally  in 
the  school  building.  Yet  in  one  town  the  meetings  are 
held  in  the  court-room,  in  another  in  the  public  library, 
and  in  two  towns  the  meetings  are  held  in  the  homes. 

Suggested  Subjects  for  Programmes. — The  topics  dis- 
cussed at  the  meetings  of  such  associations  should  be  of 
mutual  interest  to  parents  and  teachers  and  be  related 
to  child  welfare.  They  should  be  as  varied  as  possible 
and  so  presented  that  their  practical  value  may  be  read- 
ily seen  and  appreciated.  The  following  topics  may  be 
used  effectively  for  programmes  and  discussions:  city 
improvement,  sanitation,  charity,  culture,  defective  and 
delinquent  children,  factory  laws  and  child  labor,  vaca- 
tion schools  and  playgrounds,  personal  expenditures  for 
graduating  exercises,  compulsory  attendance,  places  of 
amusement  for  children,  the  relation  of  the  physical, 
mental,  and  moral  life  of  the  child  to  his  school  work, 
school  athletics — work  and  play — their  educative  value, 
the  value  of  toys  and  games,  the  literature  of  the  home, 
parties,  fraternities  and  sororities,  the  responsibility  of 
the  mother,  the  sex  problem,  dangerous  vices  among 
children.  There  are  also  many  other  topics  which  local 
conditions  and  needs  may  suggest. 

How  to  Organize  a  Home  and  School  Association. — 
The  following  steps  leading  to  the  organization  of  a  vol- 
untary agency  to  co-operate  with  the  schools  seem  to  be 
clearly  defined. 

First. — Let  the  superintendent  and  a  few  others  who 
may  be  interested  create  a  public  sentiment  in  favor  of 
the  organization  by  talking  to  the  women's  clubs  and 
other  social  and  civic  organizations  in  the  community 
and  to  as  many  influential  persons  as  possible. 

Second. — Call    a   mass    meeting    and    advertise    this 


THE  SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES     347 

meeting  well  through  handbills  telling  of  the  speaker, 
subjects,  and  place  of  meeting. 

Third. — Elect  temporary  officers  as  soon  as  the  mass 
meeting  is  called  to  order. 

Fourth. — Have  a  capable  person,  who  has  been  pre- 
viously selected,  give  a  talk  or  an  address  on  a  subje<  t 
of  vital  interest  to  the  school  and  of  local  significance. 

Fifth.— Then  let  the  presiding  officer  state  briefly  and 
concisely  the  purpose  of  the  meeting,  calling  attention 
to  successful  organizations  in  other  places. 

Sixth. — Elect  permanent  officers.  In  the  method  of 
selection  the  spirit  of  democracy  should  prevail.  Let  the 
nominations  be  spontaneous.  This  does  not  necessarily 
preclude  the  personal  influence  of  the  superintendent 
and  other  persons  who  are  vitally  interested. 

Seventh. — The  various  committees,  which  will  be  de- 
termined largely  by  local  needs,  should  be  selected.  The 
more  important  are  those  on  the  constitution  and  by- 
laws, programme,  membership,  publicity,  and  finance. 
The  affiliated  agencies  should  be  as  fully  represented 
as  possible. 

Eighth. — The  place  and  date  of  the  next  meeting 
should  be  determined. 

Ninth. — Arrangements  should  be  made  to  advertise 
the  next  meeting  and  the  programme  well. 

Tenth. — Before  the  next  meeting  the  committees 
should  organize.  The  committee  on  constitution,  mem- 
bership, and  publicity  should  prepare  material  that 
properly  pertains  to  their  several  departments  in  order 
that  it  may  be  available  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  constitution  should  be  simple  and  yet  sufficiently 
comprehensive  to  cover  the  activities  of  the  organization. 
The  following  proposed  constitution  may  be  suggestive: 


348  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

CONSTITUTION  OF  HOME  AND  SCHOOL  ASSOCIATION 

Article  I 
Name 
The  name  of  this  organization  shall  be  Home  and  School 


Association  of  the  City  of 

Article  II 
Object 

The  object  of  this  association  shall  be  a  better  understanding 
between  parents  and  teachers,  their  co-operation  in  all  work  in 
the  interest  of  children,  the  study  of  the  welfare  of  the  child 
in  home,  school,  and  community,  and  the  promotion  in  general 
of  the  interests  of  education. 

Article  III 

Membership 

All  parents,  teachers,  and  other  persons  of  the  city  of 

interested  in  the  purpose  for  which  the  Parent-Teacher  Associa- 
tion is  organized  shall  be  eligible  for  membership. 

Article  IV 

Officers 

The  officers  shall  consist  of  a  president,  a  vice-president,  a 
secretary,  a  treasurer,  elected  annually  in  March  for  the  ensuing 
school  year.  They  shall  perform  the  duties  that  usually  devolve 
upon  such  officers. 

Article  V 

Executive  Committee 

The  executive  committee  shall  consist  of  the  superintendent 
of  the  school  and  the  officers  of  the  association.  This  committee 
shall  perform  the  duties  that  usually  devolve  upon  executive 
committees. 


THE   SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES     349 

Article  VI 

Meetings 

Regular  meetings  shall  be  held  at o'clock  on  the 


afternoon  or  evening  of  each  month  of  the  school  year  except 
September. 

Article  VII 
A  mendments 

Amendments  to  this  constitution  may  be  adopted  by  a  ma- 
jority vote  after  they  have  been  proposed  at  a  previous  meeting. 

Article  VIII 
Programmes 

All  programmes  shall  be  prepared  by  the  executive  committee 
with  the  approval  of  the  principal. 

The  membership  committee  should  have  printed  an 
enrolment  card  of  good  material  and  about  4x7  inches 
in  size,  to  be  used  in  the  next  general  meeting  and  in  the 
"follow-up"  policy  of  visitation  and  mailing.  If  possi- 
ble every  person  in  the  community  should  be  given  an 
opportunity  to  join  the  association.  The  following  is 
suggested  as  an  enrolment  card.  On  one  side  is  the  in- 
vitation to  become  a  member  of  the  home  and  school 
Association : 

(Name  to  whom  xp.ni) 

You  are  very  cordially  invited  to  become  a  member  of  the 
Home  and  School  Association  of  the  City  of  ■ —  — .  If  it  is 
your  pleasure  to  do  so,  you  will  sign  an  enrolment  blank  on  the 
reverse  side  of  this  card.  Eight  meetings  will  be  held  during  the 
year  in  the  High  School  Auditorium.     Interesting  and  helpful 


350  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

programmes  have  been  arranged.     Well-informed  speakers  and 
instructors  will  be  secured. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 


Superintendent. 


Chairman  Membership  Committee. 

The  reverse  side  of  the  enrolment  card  may  have 
something  like  the  following: 

The  Home  and  School  Association  of City. 

Superintendent 

or 
Chairman  of  Membership  Committee. 

It  is  my  desire  to  be  enrolled  as  a  member  of  the  Home  and 
School  Association  of  the  Public  Schools  of  .  Recog- 
nizing the  child  as  the  central  thought  in  the  work  of  the  public 
schools,  I  shall  endeavor  to  do  all  in  my  power  as  a  member  of 
the  Home  and  School  Association  10  promote  the  welfare  of  our 
children. 

Name 

Address 


The  publicity  committee  should  circularize  the  com- 
munity with  handbills  announcing  the  speakers  and  pro- 
gramme for  the  next  meeting.  The  following  notice  may 
be  of  service  in  offering  suggestions: 

To  the  Patrons  of  the  Public  Schools  of . 


One  of  the  most  important  meetings  of  the  Home  and  School 
Association  of  the  year  is  arranged  for 

The  High  School  Auditorium 

Date 

The  speakers  will  be: 


THE   SCHOOL'S    CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES      351 

This  programme  is  arranged  to  bring  to  the  patrons  of  the 
school  a  discussion  of  the  necessity  of  all  proper  safeguards  to 
the  social  life  of  the  young  people  of  this  city.  Information  as 
to  the  facts  will  give  much  protection.  Knowledge  will  make 
many  a  path  straight.  The  speakers  on  this  programme  are  per- 
sons of  ripened  experience  in  dealing  with  social  questions  too 
often  neglected  and,  on  account  of  their  private  nature,  very 
little  discussed. 

The  subject  of  this  programme  needs  you.  The  best  interests 
of  the  young  people  of  the  city  need  your  presence  at  this 
meeting.  Come  with  an  open  mind.  If  a  large  number  of 
earnest,  conscientious  citizens  ever  get  together  on  some  of  the 
things  that  will  be  discussed  in  this  programme  some  far-reach- 
ing work  will  be  done  in  this  city.  Mark  the  date  and  arrange 
to  attend.     This  is  more  than  an  ordinary  call. 

The  meeting  will  be  given  under  the  auspices  of  the  Home  and 
School  Association. 


Publicity  Committee. 
Superintendent  of  Schools. 


The  Social  Expert  a  Necessity. — In  view  of  the  new 
functional  responsibilities  that  are  being  imposed  upon 
the  modern  school  and  the  already  heavy  burdens  rest- 
ing upon  superintendents  and  teachers,  a  serious  question 
arises  as  to  who  shall  assume  the  additional  responsibili- 
ties. The  following  suggested  policies  may  answer  the 
question  partially  at  least : 

One  method  suggested  is  that  the  teacher  become 
socially  responsible  for  the  pupils  under  her  charge. 
This  policy  in  the  villages  and  rural  communities  may 
be  successful,  in  a  measure,  if  the  teacher  is  qualified  for 
such  activities.  However,  in  communities  of  more  than 
one  school  building  this  method  would  fail  to  develop  in 
the  community  and  the  school  a  spirit  of  solidarity  which 


352  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

is  fundamental  to  community  co-operation.  Moreover, 
the  average  teacher  who  conscientiously  devotes  her 
energy  to  the  curriculum  duties  has  little  vitality  for 
added  responsibilities. 

A  second  method  that  has  met  with  considerable  fa- 
vor is  the  employment  of  a  home  and  school  visitor — the 
method  now  followed  in  Boston  and  some  other  cities. 
Within  a  limited  sphere  this  method  provides  fruitful 
opportunities.  The  visitor  meets  many  parents  who  are 
unable  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  home  and  school 
association  and  study  scientifically  the  home  in  its  moral 
and  hygienic  aspects.  The  visitor  thus  may  become  the 
social  medium  through  which  the  co-operation  of  home 
and  school  may  be  effected  and  the  parents  in  particular 
be  more  fully  enlightened  respecting  the  aims  and  the  re- 
quirements of  the  school.  In  fact,  almost  all  of  the 
problems  of  the  school  that  are  presented  publicly  in  the 
general  meetings  of  the  home  and  school  association  may 
be  discussed  by  the  parent  and  visitor,  although  in  some 
phases  net  so  effectively.  On  the  other  hand,  the  visitor 
may  enlighten  the  teacher  with  respect  to  the  home  en- 
vironment of  the  pupils  under  her  care.  There  is  this 
difference,  however,  that  the  teacher,  through  the  home 
and  school  association,  becomes  acquainted  with  home 
conditions  by  meeting  the  parent  face  to  face.  Through 
the  visitor  his  contact  is  indirect,  since  it  is  the  visitor 
only  who  comes  face  to  face  with  the  parent.  Because 
of  this  directness  of  the  social  contact  the  situation  is 
one  of  greater  delicacy  than  where  the  teacher  comes 
in  contact  with  the  parent  through  the  meeting  of  the 
home  and  school  association.  Here  the  opportunity  is 
afforded  to  observe  home  conditions  indirectly  without 
creating  the  suspicion  that  the  teacher  is  doing  "mission- 


THE    SCHOOL'S    CO-OPERATIVE    AGENCIES    353 

ary"  work.  When  through  the  home  and  school  asso- 
ciation the  teacher  and  parent  co-operate,  it  is  like  say- 
ing, "Come  with  us;  working  together  we  will  do  the 
child  good";  while  the  policy  of  the  visitor  is  more  like 
saying:  "Come  with  us;  we  will  do  thee  good."  To  do 
efficient  work  in  such  a  delicate  position,  the  visitor 
should  be  a  person  of  highly  developed  social  sympathy 
and  one  of  wide  experience,  sound  judgment,  and  tact. 

The  Larger  Work. — The  larger  work,  however,  of  weld- 
ing the  constituents  of  the  school  into  a  psychic  unity 
cannot  be  undertaken  or  accomplished  by  the  home  and 
school  visitor.  The  work  of  the  visitor,  in  the  nature  of 
the  case,  is  confined  to  particular  situations  and  prob- 
lems. It  seems  quite  evident  that  the  larger  work  of 
bringing  the  constituents  of  the  school  into  a  close  and 
vital  relationship  demands  a  social  or  civic  engineer,  who 
shall  be  associated  with  the  superintendent  or  himself 
be  the  superintendent,  and  whose  special  duty  it  shall 
be  to  organize  the  school  in  all  of  its  phases  for  social 
efficiency.  This  position  demands  a  person  with  a  thor- 
ough and  practical  training  in  sociology.  He  must  be 
familiar  with  the  recent  social  movements  as  related  to 
the  school.  He  should  possess  in  high  degree  the  qual- 
ification of  a  leader,  initiative  and  capacity  as  an  exec- 
utive. He  must  possess  a  breadth  and  depth  of  sym- 
pathy that  will  give  him  a  real  and  vital  interest  in  people. 
He  must  approach  his  vocation  with  a  devotion  akin  to 
religious  zeal.  The  cry  of  the  needy,  the  oppressed,  the 
ignorant,  the  weak,  and  the  misdirected  must  be  heard 
distinctly  by  him. 

Summary  and  Conclusion.— In  meeting  the  demands 
of  modern  education,  there  seem  to  be  certain  well-' 
defined  principles  that  relate  themselves  to  the  school 


354  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

and  its  co-operative  agencies.  A  favorable  public  senti- 
ment relative  to  the  school  should  be  created.  The  com- 
mon interest  that  binds  the  constituents  of  the  school  and 
the  teachers  together,  and  the  common  end  for  which 
both  work,  are  the  welfare  of  the  child.  The  life  of  the 
school  should  be  so  formed  and  the  curriculum  so  con- 
structed that  the  pupils  may  become  actual  participants 
in  the  life  of  the  community.  The  work  of  social  re- 
construction undertaken  in  connection  with  the  school 
should  be  prosecuted  under  the  direction  of  a  social 
expert. 


PART  III 

DEFINITE  INTERNAL  EXPRESSIONS  OF 
THE  SOCIAL  NATURE  AND  SOCIALIZING 
FUNCTION   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL 

CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  INTERNAL  GOVERNMENT  AS  AN  EXPRESSION  OF 
THE  SOCIAL   CHARACTER  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

H.  L.  Miller,  A.B. 

ASSISTANT  PROFESSOR  OF  EDUCATION  AND  PRINCIPAL  OF  THE  WISCONSIN 
HIGH    SCHOOL,    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

The  tone  or  spirit  of  the  school  eludes  descriptive 
analysis.  Many  and  varied  factors  taken  in  their  com- 
posite setting  are  contributory.  To  assert  with  dogmatic 
conviction  the  precise  value  of  any  particular  school 
activity  invites  scepticism.  The  exact  contribution  of 
any  one  of  the  many  forces  operating  in  the  development 
of  personality,  character,  public  opinion,  or  an  institu- 
tion such  as  the  school  is  not  easily  determined.  One  of 
the  vital  problems  confronting  us  to-day  is  to  find  out 
how  to  array  the  forces  of  secondary  education  so  that 
those  who  are  to  constitute  the  citizenship  of  to-morrow 
may  realize  more  fully  and  effectively  that  "this  adoles- 
cent nation  is  growing  ethically  self-conscious  and  is 

355 


356  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

learning  to  give  battle  with  the  moral  weapons  of  its 
available  public  spirit — the  habitual  expression  of  char- 
acter socialized."1  In  a  very  definite  sense,  education 
may  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of  social  debt  which  the  State 
owes  its  prospective  citizens. 

Application  of  Social  Standards  to  Educational  Forces. — 
It  is  significant  to  note  the  increasing  tendency  to  apply 
the  social  standard  in  the  interpretation  of  educational 
forces.  The  expression,  "social  efficiency,"  has  gained 
wide  acceptance  and  bids  fair  to  become  our  best  state- 
ment of  the  goal  of  education.  Culture,  utility,  disci- 
pline, and  other  variants  are  gathered  up  in  this  harmo- 
nizing standard.  It  is  the  capacity  to  deal  effectively  with 
social  situations  that  attaches  importance  to  this  more 
or  less  universally  accepted  view.  Those  who  urge  the 
adoption  of  this  all-inclusive  aim  find  it  necessary  to 
extend  the  meaning  of  the  term  social  in  order  that  the 
varied  proximate  and  ultimate  aims  may  be  included. 
For  example,  the  moral  element  is  focal  in  the  considera- 
tion of  human-welfare  problems.  The  mere  control  of 
situations,  however  complex,  is  insufficient.  At  once  the 
comprehensive  term  "social"  must  be  regarded  as  equiv- 
alent to  moral  or  defined  broadly  enough  to  include  all 
that  is  implied  in  the  ethics  of  human  relations.  Hence, 
the  "socially  efficient  individual,"  capable  of  "pulling  his 
own  load,"  must  be  mindful  of  the  rights  of  others.  The 
capacity  to  deal  effectively  with  social  situations  implies 
altruistic  conduct. 

It  is  not  a  valid  objection  to  this  statement  of  the 

aim  of  education  that  its  meaning  must  be  examined  in 

great  detail.     The  present  tendency  to  relate  educational 

practice  to  life  is  a  corrective  to  mere  generalizing.     A 

1  Alexis  F.  Lange,  N.  E.  A.  Report,  1907,  p.  719. 


THE  INTERNAL   GOVERNMENT  357 

standard  of  "social  efficiency"  applied  to  the  school  is 
valuable  in  so  far  as  definite  situations  are  more  intelli- 
gently and  fruitfully  worked  out.  The  chief  value  in 
the  social  interpretation  of  education  lies  in  the  sug- 
gestiveness  of  the  view.  No  aspect  of  the  school  has 
been  left  unsurveyed  under  its  stimulus.  The  school  is 
regarded  as  an  essentially  socializing  institution.  Out 
of  this  conception  have  developed  new  possibilities  for 
productive  modification  and  redirection  of  practice.  To 
regard  the  school,  however,  as  a  social  institution  and 
nothing  else  is  misleading.  The  school  is  not  simply  an 
aggregation.  Its  character  is  determined  "partly  by  the 
streak  in  human  nature"  and  "partly  by  the  influence 
of  social  surroundings."  To  say  that  the  school  exhibits 
social  aspects  in  its  varied  activities  is  a  valid  conten- 
tion. We  may  expect  to  find  varying  amounts  of  social 
significance,  of  greater  or  less  importance,  attaching  to 
any  phase  of  education  we  may  wish  to  examine. 

For  the  purpose  of  still  further  orientation  in  the  par- 
ticular field  of  this  chapter  it  may  be  well  to  point 
out  the  fact  that  the  school  has  long  been  a  social  insti- 
tution. The  old-fashioned  three  R's  are  now  presented 
as  the  fundamental  social  arts.  Language  is  a  kind  of 
intellectual  currency — an  effective  instrument  in  work- 
ing out  the  manifold  relationships  in  our  complex  civili- 
zation. Number  concepts  are  essential  to  effective  par- 
ticipation in  the  affairs  of  life.  Ability  to  express  ideas 
and  communicate  plans  economically  implies  facility  in 
the  use  of  the  common  means  of  expression.  Our  fore- 
fathers were  dealing  with  fundamental  training  for  "so- 
cial efficiency"  in  their  devotion  to  the  impartation  of 
common  knowledge  and  the  creation  of  common  senti- 
ment whereby  the  interchange  of  ideas  and  the  recipro- 


358  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

cal  regard  of  each  for  others  might  become  facile.  The 
dominant  note  in  our  democracy  is  just  the  conception 
that  common  knowledges  and  common  attitudes  shall 
constitute  the  intellectual  and  emotional  coin  of  the 
nation. 

It  is  often  alleged  that  vocational  courses  are  highly 
desirable  on  account  of  their  intrinsic  content  values, 
which  may  be  utilized  in  training  for  immediate  adjust- 
ment to  commercial  and  industrial  conditions,  thereby 
contributing  definitely  to  the  making  of  socially  efficient 
citizenship.  Bringing  together  these  two  apparently 
divergent  aims — the  liberal  and  vocational — under  the 
new  standard  proposed,  there  seems  to  be  no  difficulty  in 
coming  to  some  general  agreement  as  to  the  function  of 
the  school.  It  is  necessary  that  the  cry  for  reform  should 
be  attended  to,  but  at  the  same  time  those  lines  of  effort 
which  gave  our  schools  in  the  past  the  strength  of  their 
position  should  be  safeguarded.  The  rapid  organization 
of  high  school  education  both  in  content  and  method 
bears  clear  testimony  to  the  recognition  of  broadening 
conceptions  of  education.  Individual  as  well  as  social 
needs  are  seen  to  demand  a  redirection  of  educational 
forces.  One  of  the  many  possibilities  which  might  be 
suggested  is  the  six-year  elementary  school  followed  by 
a  six-year  secondary  school.  With  this  division  as  a 
possibility  of  the  near  future,  new  problems  in  both  ex- 
ternal and  internal  government  and  organization  are 
pressing  for  solution. 

Democracy  and  Education. — However  ways  and  means 
may  vary,  there  seems  to  be  universal  agreement,  practi- 
cally speaking,  that  our  educational  system  shall  be  in 
fact  one  system  with  a  clear  vision  that  the  American 
high  school  shall  be  cosmopolitan  in  character,  offering 


THE   INTERNAL    GOVERNMENT  359 

within  its  organization  opportunity  for  the  satisfaction 
of  divergent  individual  needs.     This  view  expresses  the 

cherished  ideal  of  democracy  at  its  highest  and  besl , 

The  social  mingling  of  all  classes  is  not  peculiar  to  tin- 
high  school  alone,  but  it  is  especially  significant  owing 
to  the  fact  that  it  is  during  this  period  that  the  social 
consciousness  is  being  rounded  out  and  permanent  life 
attitudes  are  being  developed.  The  sporadic  objections 
to  the  composite  character  of  the  public  high  school,  ex- 
pressed now  in  a  demand  for  narrow  specialized  trade 
training,  now  in  a  misguided  enthusiasm  for  a  segregated 
secondary  school  devoted  to  the  ideals  of  scholarship 
the  implication  in  either  case  being  that  arbitrary  selec- 
tion shall  be  exercised — meet  with  little  serious  support. 
We  have  no  sympathy  with  any  propaganda  that  sug- 
gests caste.  Democracy  and  education  are  loosely  con- 
ceived as  synonymous  and,  so  conceived,  operate  as  a 
check  on  practice  based  on  predetermining  factors.  All 
children  in  a  democracy  are  to  be  given  a  chance  to  find 
themselves.  Within  the  school  itself,  as  well  as  in  the 
administration  of  school  systems  in  general,  every  effort 
is  made  to  break  up  insulated  classes  and  safeguard  all 
tendencies  that  might  result  in  unsympathetic  or  anti- 
social conduct.  "Unless  the  all-inclusive  group  finds 
means  to  assimilate  and  reconcile  its  members  and  weaken 
the  ties  that  bind  members  into  minor  groups,  the  social 
order  will  be  disrupted,"  and  just  as  "society  must  muz- 
zle Jesuit  and  mafiate,  conspirator  and  anarchist  as  well 
as  the  man  of  prey,"1  so  the  school  must  be  organized 
and  controlled  with  similar  intent. 

The  high  school  as  the  prophetic  representative  of  the 
nation's  maturer  democracy  is  our  common  social  high- 
1  E.  A.  Ross,  ''Social  Control,"  p.  52. 


360  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

way  where  we  shall  expect  to  have  engendered  and  main- 
tained an  all-pervading  mutual  understanding  through 
vital  emphasis  upon  common  standards,  democratic 
ideals,  and  altruistic  attitudes.  Within  the  larger  social 
setting  of  the  school  as  well  as  in  the  classroom  are 
detectable  and  potent  forces  operating  effectively  in  the 
development  of  both  individual  capacity  and  social 
unity. 

General  Character  of  the  High  School  Period. — The 
high  school  presents  unique  problems  of  organization 
and  control.  It  undertakes  to  deal  with  the  "yeasty" 
period  of  adolescence — fourteen  to  eighteen  years  of  age. 
The  State  no  longer  exercises  the  type  of  control  which 
in  previous  years  obtained  under  compulsory  attendance 
laws.  The  home  in  the  last  analysis  exercises  its  per- 
suasive powers  in  urging  attendance.  The  choice,  more- 
over, comes  at  a  critical  time.  The  period  of  "storm  and 
stress"  is  well  under  way.  Dominant  interests  are  being 
selected  out  of  the  many  conflicting  and  specialized  in- 
terests incident  to  youth.  This  is  the  stage  of  conscious 
reorganization  and  evaluation.  The  high  school  seeks 
to  organize  its  activities  so  as  to  guide  in  a  self-realizing 
and  self-estimating  process.  Opportunities  to  test  pow- 
ers seriously  in  many  lines  should  be  presented.  Contact 
with  fellow  pupils  and  teachers  in  all  wholesome  situa- 
tions affords  a  rich  and  true  content  for  "salvation  by 
fellowship."  Ability  to  co-operate  as  well  as  individ- 
ual initiative  and  independence  are  included  as  possible 
achievements.  The  cultivation  of  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility might  well  constitute  the  dominant  aim  during 
these  years.  The  effective  management  of  the  high 
school  calls  for  large  vision  of  the  possibilities  of  youth. 
Under  the  stimulating  leadership  and  sympathetic  direc- 


THE  INTERNAL   GOVERNMENT  361 

tion  of  principal  and  teachers  competent  and  fit  to  deal 
with  such  vital  problems,  tangible  results  of  commanding 
importance  to  society  may  be  confidently  expected. 

External  Agencies  as  Conditioning  Factors,  in  tin- 
larger  view  of  the  school  one  must  consider  the  standards 
of  the  community.  Contrast  the  situation  which  obtains 
in  Kansas  City,  for  example,  with  the  all-too-common 
practice.  For  thirty  years  the  opposing  political  parties 
have  had  a  working  agreement  in  the  selection  of  mem- 
bers for  the  board  of  education.  Nominating  and 
indorsing  alternate  between  the  parties.  It  is  tacitly  un- 
derstood that  the  party  whose  turn  it  is  to  select  a  candi- 
date must  nominate  a  representative  of  the  highest  civic, 
moral,  and  intellectual  ideals  of  the  community.  This  is 
a  high  compliment  to  the  intelligence  and  public  interest 
of  a  community  and  makes  it  a  distinct  honor  to  render 
service  in  education.  The  reflex  effect  and  influence  of 
such  dignified  performance  upon  boys  and  girls  must  be 
wholesome.  The  type  of  administrative  method  em- 
ployed is  reflected  in  the  ideals  and  spirit  of  the  school. 
Outward  adjustment  to  conditions  controlled  by  society 
is  a  vital  factor  in  the  maintenance  of  discipline  and  the 
promotion  of  efficiency.  More  important  than  elaborate 
equipment  in  buildings  and  furniture,  from  the  social 
point  of  view,  is  the  character  of  society's  representatives 
in  the  administration  of  public  institutions. 

The  most  difficult  task  imposed  upon  boards  of  educa- 
tion is  the  selection  of  members  of  the  supervisory  staff 
of  instruction,  especially  the  superintendent  of  a  school 
system.  In  the  superintendent  is  vested  or  should  be 
vested  the  direction  of  the  educational  policy  of  the  com- 
munity. The  capacity  to  render  professional  service  be- 
gins with  ability  to  select  for  members  of  the  supervi 


362  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

sory  and  teaching  staff — principals  and  teachers — those 
who  through  scholarship,  both  acquired  and  dynamic, 
through  training  and  varied  contact  with  life  are  able 
to  direct  boys  and  girls  in  the  productive  employment  of 
their  powers.  This  responsibility,  together  with  the  prob- 
lems of  tenure,  promotion,  and  remuneration,  rests  with 
the  superintendent.  His  recommendation  should  mean 
appointment.  With  constructive  ability,  scholarly  in- 
sight, specialized  skill,  and  fearless  leadership  the  schools 
are  set  definitely  on  the  way  to  achievement  commensu- 
rate with  their  possibilities  in  social  service.  The 
principal  of  the  high  school  should  be  consulted  in  the 
selection  of  teachers.  Acting  jointly  with  the  superin- 
tendent in  the  consideration  of  the  claims  of  prospective 
teachers  constitutes  the  first  step  in  establishing  co- 
operation. To  be  charged  with  the  responsibility  for 
securing  tangible  results  without  a  voice  in  the  selection 
of  the  most  important  agency  in  education  is  absurd  in 
theory  and  disastrous  in  practice.  The  underlying  guid- 
ing principle  in  this  matter  is  the  conception  of  the 
school  as  a  great  co-operative  undertaking.  By  apply- 
ing this  principle  in  the  organization  and  control  of  the 
school  in  all  particulars  we  have  developed  an  institu- 
tion which,  co-operatively  directed,  exerts  a  salutary  in- 
fluence upon  the  pupils  who  come  in  contact  with  its 
operation.  A  clear  recognition  of  the  function  of  sup- 
erintendent, principal,  and  teachers  is  sorely  needed  for 
institutional  reasons.  The  attitude  of  the  community 
toward  education  is  determined  in  large  measure  by  the 
type  of  teaching  provided.  The  teaching  process  is  con- 
ditioned by  the  character  of  control  exercised  by  those 
charged  with  supervisory  and  administrative  powers. 
To  give  a  teacher  a  chance  and  to  make  provision  for  the 


THE   INTERNAL   GOVERNMENT  363 

exercise  of  originality  are  essential  if  the  full  benefits  of 
instruction  are  to  be  derived. 

The  principal  is  charged  with  the  immediate  super- 
vision of  instruction  and  must  have  a  free  hand  in  this 
function.  He  is  charged  with  the  detailed  managerial 
duties  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  conduct  of  pupils. 
His  relation  to  the  board  of  education  and  superintendent 
should  be  advisory  in  all  cases  of  disagreement  between 
pupils  and  the  school  or  between  teachers  and  their  work. 
When  his  judgment  cannot  be  relied  upon  it  is  time  for 
radical  readjustment.  To  appear  as  defendant  or  com- 
plainant before  a  higher  tribunal  in  the  presence  of  an 
array  of  relatives  and  friends  of  the  aggrieved  party 
ought  to  be  regarded  as  undignified.  The  most  effective 
method  of  breaking  down  the  discipline  of  a  school  is  to 
give  currency  to  the  impression  that  those  charged  with 
its  management  are  not  trusted.  Pupils  are  quick  to 
sense  loss  of  confidence.  If  it  becomes  necessary  to  give 
attention  to  a  case  of  overt  disagreement,  the  gravity  of 
the  situation  should  be  serious  enough  to  warrant  the 
procedure  that  would  invite  the  embarrassment  indi- 
cated. A  clear  statement  of  facts  with  all  relevant  bear- 
ings should  be  filed  with  the  superintendent,  and  then  if 
it  is  deemed  advisable  to  call  the  principal  into  deliber- 
ative counsel  let  it  be  done  in  privacy  or  executive  ses- 
sion. This  point  is  not  elaborated  to  suggest  that  settle- 
ment of  disagreements  occupies  any  considerable  time, 
but  rather  to  indicate  the  importance  of  safeguarding  a 
principle  of  management  which  is  vital  in  school  practice. 
No  scheme  of  control  has  yet  been  devised  which  will 
permanently  obviate  disagreements,  and  the  school  must 
be  organized  for  effectively  operating  when  a  scienti fa- 
diagnosis  justifies  the  measure.     Previous  consultation 


364  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

saves  much  blundering  in  practice.  The  history  of  the 
case  is  also  important  and  suggests  the  need  of  better 
methods  of  recording  results  of  experience. 

Teachers  and  Principal,  a  Representative  Social 
Group. — The  relationship  between  principal  and  teach- 
ers and  between  groups  of  teachers  is  reflected  in  the 
conduct  and  attitude  of  pupils.  The  principal  and  teach- 
ers constitute  a  social  group  in  which  mutual  helpfulness, 
courtesy,  sympathy,  open-mindedness,  thoughtfulness, 
and  team  work  Should  be  exhibited  in  a  refined  and  whole- 
some manner  without  servility  or  submissive  spirit. 
The  finest  loyalties  in  this  respect  lie  below  the  super- 
ficial appearance  of  things  embedded  in  intelligently 
directed  enthusiasms  for  teaching  as  a  fine  art.  The 
highest  test  of  leadership  of  superintendent  or  principal 
consists  in  ability  so  to  organize  instructional  means  as 
to  develop  such  creative  genius  and  dynamic  fitness  as 
teachers  may  possess.  To  attain  these  ends  means, 
frankly,  less  machinery  and  larger  freedom  in  the  exer- 
cise of  initiative.  Every  teacher  should  count  as  an  in- 
dividual, not  as  a  unit  in  a  school  system.  Our  keenest 
need  in  education  to-day  is  professionally  directed  super- 
vision which  allows  for  full  co-operative  team  play — the 
principal  and  teacher  carrying  out  a  mutually  acceptable 
policy.  The  critical  methods  usually  employed  are  ex- 
tremely superficial  and  exasperating,  consisting  often  in 
calling  attention  to  janitorial  functions,  time-tables  and 
schedules,  and  similar  elements  in  mere  school  keeping. 
An  evaluation  of  instructional  skill  and  appreciative 
scholarship  presupposes  capacity  to  interpret  processes. 
Productive  methods  of  supervision  call  for  keen  abilities 
in  weighing  situations  and  responses.  It  is  a  type  of 
work  that  does  not  lend  itself  to  didactic  formulation. 


THE  INTERNAL   GOVERNMEN  I  365 

Teachers  with  broad  views  of  the  subjects  they  are  teach- 
ing and  of  their  task  in  the  teaching  process  arc  main 
times  annoyed  by  petty  interference  under  the  guise 
of  supervision.  Supervisory  relations  are  personal  and 
direct  in  character.  They  cannot  be  reduced  to  a  sys- 
tem of  accounting.  The  importance  of  keeping  certain 
records  for  statistical  purposes  is  readily  recognized. 
Supervision  is  emphasized  in  this  connection  for  the 
obvious  reason  that  it  is  the  bond  between  teachers  and 
principal.  The  principal  who  takes  the  view  that  teach- 
ers are  in  their  classrooms  to  teach,  and  to  teach  so  as  to 
educate,  and  who  looks  to  the  teacher  for  results,  and 
who  aids  in  intelligent  ways  in  securing  results,  exhibit- 
ing thereby  comprehensive  and  constructive  views  of 
educational  values  and  of  teaching  method — such  a  prin- 
cipal becomes  an  integrating  force  in  harmonizing  the 
various  interests  represented  in  a  teaching  staff.  The 
deeper  loyalties  spring  up  out  of  a  genuine  devotion  to 
work  directed  with  intelligence. 

Not  only  in  the  selection  of  teachers,  but  also  in  the 
relationships  between  them  and  supervisor,  there  must 
be  applied  the  principle  of  a  democratic  conception  if 
we  are  to  expect  a  development  of  institutional  means 
which  are  to  control  in  the  development  of  democratic 
habits  and  ideals  among  pupils.  A  caste  system  for 
teachers  is  incompatible  with  socially  conceived  ends  in 
education.  There  is  a  service  that  is  not  servile,  which 
superintendent  and  principal,  as  servants,  may  render 
teachers.  The  permanent  values  in  school  life  are  to 
be  found  where  free  teachers  and  pupils  meet  together. 
Hence,  all  details  of  organization  both  external  and  in- 
ternal, arrangement  of  programmes  of  study,  adjustment 
of  courses  of  study,  assignment  of  pupils  to  teachers,  the 


366  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

managerial  aspects  of  the  daily  routine,  the  development 
of  enterprises  and  activities  among  pupils  are  brought  to 
a  focus  in  the  classroom  and  are  designed,  each  and  all, 
to  make  effective  the  work  of  the  teacher. 

Development  and  Expression  of  the  Corporate  Life  of 
the  School. — It  is  one  thing  to  provide  for  the  expression 
of  school  spirit  and  quite  another  thing  to  create  by 
legitimate  means  a  school  spirit  worthy  of  expression. 
There  is  danger  in  the  cultivation  of  mere  external  forms 
of  activities  if  this  fundamental  conception  is  blurred. 
With  a  superficial  regard  for  intellectual  pursuits  and 
low  standards  in  pupil  enterprises  there  easily  develops 
a  ridiculous  exhibition  of  the  froth  of  school  spirit  worked 
up  for  special  occasions.  Under  healthy  conditions  where 
pupils'  energies  are  wisely  distributed  and  directed,  it  is 
conceivable  that  school  spirit  expressed  in  properly  con- 
trolled channels  may  become  the  efflorescence  of  genuine 
interests  developed  in  the  serious  activities  of  school  life. 
A  vitalizing  school  sentiment  must  find  its  roots  in  deeper 
soil  than  any  adventitious  enterprise,  however  valuable 
in  itself  as  such,  if  it  is  to  have  permanent  value.  This 
distinction  between  the  more  fundamental  nature  of 
school  spirit  and  the  proper  modes  of  expression  serve  to 
emphasize  rather  than  diminish  the  importance  of  activ- 
ities organized  with  reference  to  the  latter.  Provision 
should  be  made  in  all  high  schools,  regardless  of  numbers, 
for  the  wholesome  expression  of  life.  Expression  modifies 
experience  and  gives  new  direction.  As  a  going  concern, 
the  school  gains  momentum  from  year  to  year  until  the 
moral  sentiment  thus  created  becomes  a  constant  and 
saving  force.  The  good  name  of  a  school  is  a  matter  of 
growth.  The  curriculum  is  defective  if  it  fails  to  instil  in 
each  pupil  an  institutional  feeling.     This  comes  out  of 


THE   INTERNAL   GOVERNMENT  367 

participation  in  the  expressive  forms  of  conduct  socia UN- 
directed.  "The  institutional  sense  is  a  consciousness  that 
every  person  is  a  social  unit,  that  he  is  an  essential  ele- 
ment in  organized  society,  and  that  there  is  a  machinery 
for  social  control  to  which  he  must  submit.  It  tries  to 
bring  home  to  the  child  that  life  is  a  give-and-take  affair, 
that  we  owe  an  obligation  to  society  for  each  privilege 
that  we  receive  from  society,  that  each  of  us  must  show 
due  respect  for  the  laws,  the  customs,  and  the  standards 
of  society,  that  we  must  obey  them  voluntarily  or  be 
forced  to  obedience  by  the  machinery  that  is  established 
for  that  purpose."  1 

Adult  Guidance. — The  suppressed  premise  in  this  pres- 
entation is  clearly  the  view  that  high  school  boys  and 
girls  are  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  mature  experience.  It 
is  not  a  time  to  turn  over  to  immature  youth  the  manage- 
ment of  an  institution  which  calls  for  critical  types  of 
judgment  and  rare  insight  in  interpreting  its  functions 
in  individual  and  social  situations.  Stating  the  premise 
in  direct  terms,  that  school  is  wisely  directed  in  which 
requests  carry  the  implication  of  commands  and  orders  the 
necessity  of  obedience. 

The  marvellous  capacity  for  achievement  under  vigor- 
ous leadership  and  wholesome  stimulation  ought  to  be 
appreciated  by  teachers,  school  officers,  and  parents. 
Every  department  and  classroom  may  be  profitably  ded- 
icated to  the  doctrine  of  hard  work.  The  joy  that  goes 
with  purposive  employment  is  valid  proof  of  the  sound- 
ness of  this  suggestion.  The  school  that  fails  to  measure 
up  to  its  possibilities  as  a  working  agency  where  all  are 
stimulated  to  achieve  their  maximum,  to  live  up  to  their 
optimum,  is  a  pitiable,  farcical  failure  as  a  social  achieve- 

»Paul  Klapper,  "Principles  of  Education,"  p.  132. 


368  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ment.  The  years  of  adolescence  are  too  precious  to  be 
wasted  in  undervitalized  teaching  and  characterless 
leadership.  Those  who  see  nothing  from  where  they  sit 
but  the  job  and  its  perquisites,  or  who  consume  their 
energy  in  manipulating  the  details  of  a  mechanical  sys- 
tem, will  do  little  that  contributes  to  professional  enjoy- 
ment and  fruitful  co-operation.  The  school  at  its  highest 
and  best  exhibits  in  its  management  and  teaching  func- 
tion social  aspects  which  are  constantly  shaping  the  ideals 
of  boys  and  girls  as  they  are  influenced  by  solid  contact 
with  its  institutional  life. 

Social  Significance  of  Classroom  Activity. — One  might 
with  profit  point  out  the  social  significance  of  learning 
processes.  History,  civics,  economics,  and  sociology  are 
obviously  dealing  in  respect  to  content  with  human  rela- 
tionships. From  the  pragmatic  standpoint  all  subjects 
of  the  curriculum  constitute  a  series  of  social  problems. 
We  do  not  set  the  pupil  off  and  talk  about  his  mental 
machinery.  The  courses  of  study  have  no  meaning  ex- 
cept in  terms  of  the  active  agent — the  pupil.  By  tracing 
out  the  history  and  pedigree  of  any  problem  we  find  it 
goes  right  back  to  some  real  social  problems.  There  are 
no  practical  difficulties  that  resolve  themselves  into  prob- 
lems of  mere  knowledge.  The  final  court  of  appeal  is 
value  in  a  social  world. 

The  full  account  of  classroom  activity  is  not  closed 
with  a  description  of  individual  needs.  The  importance 
of  each  pupil  as  a  member  of  a  group  gains  significance 
in  teaching  method.  The  stimulations  growing  out  of 
association  constitute  in  a  way  the  "clutch"  by  means  of 
which  the  individual  machinery  is  set  in  motion.  The 
give-and-take  process,  the  team  work,  the  consideration 
of  common  problems,  the  striving  together  in  common 


THE   INTERNAL    GOVERNMENT  369 

situations,  evaluating  results  of  observed  efforts,  check- 
ing, approving,  holding  up  standards  of  attainment,  ren 
dcring  assistance  in  cases  of  need  for  guidance  are  illus- 
trations of  the  manifold  ways  in  which  a  class  exen  ise 
exhibits  co-operative  conduct.  Such  factors  arc  . 
tial  in  the  development  of  sympathetic  relationships 
among  pupils.  The  appreciation  of  another's  problems 
and  methods  of  attack  promotes  courtesy  and  good-will 
and  furnishes  a  means  for  self-estimation  and  self-confi- 
dence. The  ability  to  do  a  piece  of  work  which  meets 
approval  gives  assurance.  Learning  activities  teem  with 
situations  calling  for  responses  of  a  social  character.  The 
presentation  of  a  finished  product  in  either  verbal  or 
constructive  categories  commands  attention  and  appre- 
ciation. It  is  the  privilege  of  the  artist  teacher  to  see 
increasingly  exhibited  in  her  pupils  the  results  of  fine 
workmanship.  To  cultivate  a  disposition  to  do  one's  full 
share  of  work,  not  two  thirds  of  an  assignment  nor  an 
amount  indicating  half-hearted  application;  to  create 
dissatisfaction  with  mediocre  attainment;  to  stimulate 
participation  in  wholesome  activities  are  worthy  ends 
and  must  prove  effective  in  developing  men  who  can 
face  full  responsibility  unhesitatingly.  When  scholarship 
loses  respectability,  when  intellectual  "hoboism"  is  tol- 
erated and  condoned,  when,  in  short,  the  activities  of  the 
classroom  are  secondary  to  other  interests,  it  is  time  for 
searching  examination.  A  school  which  fails  to  grip  the 
intellectual  forces  fails  utterly  as  a  productive  social 
centre.  In  the  long  run  standards  of  scholarship,  effec- 
tive teaching,  and  college  ideals  determine  choice  of 
higher  institutions  of  learning.  The  moral  sentiment  of 
a  school  is  a  persistent  force.  In  the  extension  of  tin- 
functions  of  the  school  both  externally  and  internally 


370  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  teaching  function  is 
focal.  Its  importance  cannot  be  minimized  save  at  the 
sacrifice  of  usefulness  in  other  functions. 

Means  of  Establishing  Organic  Connection  with  Com- 
munity Life. — Opportunities  for  more  objective  forms  of 
co-operative  effort  have  been  provided  in  the  introduc- 
tion of  courses  in  manual  and  household  arts.  Working 
out  projects  together,  such  as  pieces  of  furniture  for  the 
school  or  the  preparation  of  a  dinner,  where  groups  of 
pupils  contribute  each  a  definite  part  in  the  completed 
whole,  is  a  kind  of  team  work  which  suggests  larger  pos- 
sibilities. Producing  useful  things  for  the  community 
as  a  part  of  school  work  might  be  included  in  constructive 
courses.  High  school  pupils  should  be  given  an  oppor- 
tunity to  express  their  judgment  in  public  affairs  in  a 
vital  way. 

For  example,  in  the  selection  of  the  style  of  architecture 
and  furniture  which  are  to  be  used  in  school  buildings  the 
judgment  of  pupils  based  on  the  results  of  choosing  is  a 
better  guide  than  the  usual  adult  methods  employed. 
Lest  this  seem  fanciful,  take  a  concrete  case.  In  a  certain 
high  school  the  walls  and  ceiling  in  the  corridors  had  been 
tinted  during  the  summer  vacation.  Inadvertently,  a 
pleasing  color  was  used.  The  wainscoting  was  left  un- 
tinted.  The  pupils  of  the  drawing  department  were 
given  the  opportunity  to  select  a  color  for  the  unfinished 
surface.  They  made  washes  of  color,  working  out  by 
experimentation  pleasing  combinations.  One  hundred 
of  these  were  submitted  to  the  entire  school.  Out  of 
more  than  a  thousand  judgments  there  was  no  doubt 
about  the  selection  of  a  color  scheme.  The  board  of 
education  carried  out  the  expressed  judgment  of  the 
pupils  in  detail. 


THE   INTERNAL   GOVERNMENT  37] 

There  are  other  means  by  which  to  lift  the  school  out 
of  isolation  and  establish  organic  connection  with  the  con- 
crete affairs  of  the  community.  In  Rochester,  X.  Y., 
the  boys  in  the  physics  classes  are  given  work  by  tin- 
city  in  wiring  for  electrical  purposes.  The  high  school 
of  Kansas  City,  Kan.,  has  developed  a  number  of  vital 
connections  with  the  life  of  the  city.  The  head  of  the 
department  of  chemistry  was  appointed  city  chemist 
two  years  ago  and  the  work  transferred  to  the  high  sch<  k  il. 
The  pupils  who  had  completed  one  year  of  chemistry 
creditably  (in  some  exceptional  cases  one  semester)  were 
permitted  to  earn  high  school  credit  counting  toward 
graduation  by  doing  city  work.  Testing  water  for  purity 
and  bacterial  content,  running  milk  tests,  keeping  records 
and  informing  dairymen,  work  under  the  pure-food  regu- 
lations, testing  paving  materials  were  some  of  the  lines 
carried  on  by  the  high  school  boys.  In  this  type  of  work 
there  was  no  need  for  urging  devotion  to  the  preparation 
of  lessons. 

In  the  same  school  pupils  who  carried  music  outside  of 
school  were  given  credit  toward  graduation.  Means 
were  devised  for  keeping  account  of  progress  made. 
The  chief  reliance  was  upon  the  pupil's  own  statement 
of  her  work.  Those  who  desired  credit  for  such  activity 
became  automatically  members  of  the  musical  club  of 
the  school,  which  was  directed  by  two  members  of  the 
faculty  who  were  interested  in  music.  This  club  was 
given  assembly  privileges  in  furnishing  programmes  for 
the  entire  school.  Pupils  in  the  commercial  department 
who  had  gained  proficiency  were  assisted  by  the  school 
in  securing  work,  part  time,  in  offices.  Credit  was  al 
lowed  if  the  work  was  deemed  educational.  A  few  boys 
received  recognition  for  work  in  banks  in  the  keeping  of 


372  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

accounts.  One  splendid  young  fellow  in  his  second  year 
had  developed  capacity  for  leadership  in  physical  edu- 
cation. He  was  given  credit  for  work  in  the  evening  with 
a  group  of  men  and  boys  in  a  rented  hall.  He  succeeded 
in  stimulating  an  interest  in  better  physical  life  among 
this  class  and  persuaded  them  to  purchase  a  few  pieces  of 
apparatus  for  their  hall.  After  two  years  of  observation 
along  these  lines  a  large  number  of  teachers  and  citizens 
are  convinced  that  the  high  school  may  be  made  more 
useful  in  the  civic  and  aesthetic  life  of  the  community. 

Grouping  of  Studies. — A  comment  in  passing  with  re- 
gard to  the  organization  of  curricula  seems  warranted. 
The  division  of  pupils  into  water-tight  compartments 
within  a  school  requiring  a  selection  of  a  classical  group- 
ing of  subjects  or  a  vocational  grouping  does  not  seem 
valid.  The  crucial  choice  of  such  large  groupings,  more 
or  less  inflexible  in  character,  is  made  at  a  time  when  it 
is  not  clear  what  future  developments  of  interests  may 
reveal.  The  better  plan  is  to  provide  a  minimum  re- 
quirement for  all  pupils  and  allow  unit  election  about 
reduced  centres,  thereby  making  it  possible  for  all  pupils 
to  elect,  under  disguised  forms  of  adult  guidance,  courses 
which  offer  the  best  predictable  types  of  training  for  each 
individual.  The  value  of  constructive  courses  has  be- 
come so  firmly  established  in  our  thinking  that  it  is 
defensible  to  urge  that  all  pupils  be  given  a  minimum 
training  in  this  direction.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but 
that  such  distinctly  objective  training  is  a  corrective  to 
excessive  devotion  to  learning  in  verbal  categories.  The 
practice  which  divides  pupils  into  inflexible  courses  has  a 
tendency  to  emphasize  undesirable  distinctions  and  not 
infrequently  breaks  up  a  teaching  staff  into  opposing 
camps  in  which  the  strong  partisan  solicits  openly  or 


THE   INTERNAL   GOVERNMENT  373 

deviously  pupils  for  his  courses.  The  danger  in  this 
direction  is  reduced  to  an  inconsequential  minimum  if 
certain  other  integrating  forces  aside  from  the  genera] 
organization  of  the  school  for  institutional  purposes  are 
wisely  directed. 

Expressive  Activities  of  School  Life. — Those  acth  ities 
which  are  designed  to  give  expression  to  school  life  are 
legitimate  in  their  time  and  place  and  should  be  fostered 
and  directed  by  teachers.  Athletic  events,  literary  and 
scientific  societies,  debating  clubs,  art  and  musical  or- 
ganizations, orchestra,  assembly  exercises,  receptions 
and  parties,  plays  and  publications,  and  all  other  enter- 
prises planned  to  give  wholesome  expression  of  the  cor- 
porate life  of  pupils  are  genuinely  worth  while  and  call 
for  balanced  judgment  and  specialized  skill  in  directing 
them  in  profitable  ways.  It  is  desirable  that  every  pupil 
should  be  an  active  member  of  some  school  organization 
with  clear  emphasis  upon  the  value  of  participating  in  the 
affairs  of  some  consciously  directed  group.  The  recog- 
nition of  adult  supervision  does  not  imply  interference 
but  regulation.  The  teacher  who  becomes  sponsor  for  a 
particular  group  meets  with  success  if  she  possesses  tact, 
sympathy,  and  ability  to  plan.  With  these  traits  is 
needed  genius  in  suggestion — stimulating  in  a  subtle 
manner  pupils  to  do  the  useful  and  fitting  things  as  if 
their  achievements  were  the  results  of  their  own  self- 
directed  life. 

The  writing  of  a  school  play  out  of  community  sources, 
utilizing,  for  example,  historical  material  gathered  by 
pupils  from  records  and  conversation  with  old  settlers, 
and  the  presentation  of  the  production  before  the  entire 
school  and  invited  guests  establish  points  of  social  con- 
tact in  many  directions.     Members  of  the  play,  com- 


374  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

mittees,  and  cast  of  characters  represent  in  their  con- 
duct typical  group  activities  of  intrinsic  value.  Those 
who  achieve  distinction  in  dramatization  gain  the  admi- 
ration of  pupils  and  teachers.  Excellence  is  contagious. 
To  have  the  attention  of  the  entire  school  centred  upon 
one  or  more  pupils  as  a  result  of  any  worthy  achievement 
— literary,  musical,  athletic — has  the  effect  of  unifying 
divergent  interests  and  of  stimulating  enthusiasm  for  the 
activities  represented. 

The  school  assembly  is  an  opportunity  for  the  direction 
of  the  expressive  side  of  school  life.  It  is  an  occasion  for 
setting  up  ideals  and  standards  and  for  cultivating  hab- 
its of  social  response.  All  interests  are  merged  for  the 
time  being  in  these  exercises.  The  appeal  for  better 
standards  of  scholarship  and  higher  ideals  of  conduct,  for 
the  spirit  of  fair  play  and  consideration  in  contests  and 
games  constitutes  an  important  factor  in  the  school  as- 
sembly. The  explicit  process  of  "inculcating  ideals"  is 
in  danger  of  being  overworked.  Good  music,  a  sensible 
and  dignified  talk  by  a  teacher  or  prominent  citizen,  a 
demonstration  of  some  group  of  processes  in  manufac- 
turing are  effective  means  which  may  be  utilized  in  these 
common  meetings.  Large  emphasis  may  profitably  be 
given  to  the  appearance  of  pupils  before  the  school.  An- 
nouncements concerning  the  meetings  of  school  organi- 
zations might  well  be  made  by  the  proper  officers.  The 
presentation  of  the  school  paper,  calling  for  support  of 
athletics,  giving  information  about  any  enterprise  of 
school  concern  in  which  pupils  are  given  responsibility 
for  management,  afford  opportunities  for  practice  in 
standing  before  a  critical  audience  and  making  a  clear 
and  forcible  statement  of  the  issue  or  situation.  The 
principal  presides  in  such  events  and  keeps  a  firm  hand 


THE  INTERNAL   GOVERNMENT  375 

in  directing  affairs.  The  school  orchestra,  the  various 
forms  of  literary  efforts  in  debate  and  public  speaking, 
the  dramatization  of  plays  worked  up  in  the  language 
department  are  appreciated  by  the  school,  and  the  recog- 
nition of  pupils  in  these  lines  is  a  means  of  stimulating 
to  further  participation  in  such  wholesome  and  useful 
activities. 

Interest  and  Group  Activity. — Interest  is  the  essential 
factor  in  self-directed  group  activity.  The  problem  is  to 
find  out  what  motives  are  dominant.  The  direction  of 
human  energy  into  useful  channels  calls  for  exceptional 
ability  in  evaluating  social  situations.  The  small  high 
school  presents  a  totally  different  situation  from  that 
which  arises  in  the  large  city  high  school.  The  details  of 
organization  for  social  opportunities  are  not  identical 
in  character  in  the  six-teacher  school  of  the  town  ami  the 
fifty-teacher  school  of  the  city  and  in  neither  case  similar 
to  the  rural  high  school.  In  the  smaller  schools  all  pupils 
may  be  knit  into  a  co-operative  group  in  which  the  major 
emphasis  may  be  placed  on  athletics  during  certain  peri- 
ods of  the  year  and  at  other  periods  on  debating  and 
declamatory  contests.  The  diversity  of  interests  in  the 
city  high  school  presents  a  nest  of  serious  problems. 
Athletics  becomes  an  acute  problem  of  finance.  The 
benefits  derived  from  sports  are  limited  to  a  few.  The 
element  of  winning  at  any  cost  and  the  influence  of  the 
public  in  general  foster  attitudes  which  make  it  difficult 
to  develop  more  genuinely  serviceable  physical  education 
for  all  pupils.  The  harmful  tendencies  incident  to  tin- 
high  school  fraternity  and  other  forms  of  club  life  which 
ape  the  worst  features  of  adult  practices  are  not  found  in 
the  small  school.  Social  solidarity  develops  normally 
out  of  team  work  in  the  latter.     It  is  obvious  that  each 


376  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

type  of  school,  in  respect  to  numbers,  presents  peculiar 
difficulties  in  control. 

In  general,  however,  it  may  be  urged  that  there  are 
common  methods  which  may  be  utilized.  For  example, 
the  standards  set  forth  in  the  Rhodes'  scholarship  are 
valuable  in  any  situation.  The  requirements  for  pro- 
ficiency in  scholarship  and  athletics  are  worthy  of  atten- 
tion. Requirements  III  and  IV  are  excellent  material 
for  boys  to  consider:  "Qualities  of  manhood,  devotion  to 
duty,  protection  of  the  weak,  kindliness,  unselfishness, 
and  fellowship" — "the  exhibition  during  school-days  of 
moral  force  of  character  and  of  instincts  to  lead,  and  to 
take  an  interest  in  his  schoolmates ;  for  these  latter  attri- 
butes will  be  likely  in  after-life  to  guide  him  to  esteem  the 
performance  of  public  duties  as  the  highest  aim." 

The  keen  interest  which  is  so  easily  aroused  in  athletic 
events  offers  possibilities  for  new  types  of  control  and 
appeal.  The  brilliant  athlete  gains  authority  through 
achievement.  That  authority  must  be  made  responsi- 
ble by  legitimizing  school  activities.  Boys  who  excel  as 
athletes  should  be  made  conscious  of  the  responsibility 
which  falls  to  them  as  representatives  of  their  school. 
They  should  be  worthy  the  esteem  which  is  given  them 
and  led  to  regard  the  standards  Mr.  Rhodes  has  estab- 
lished. The  direction  of  this  important  activity  wisely 
is  a  mark  of  efficiency. 

Development  of  Capacity  for  Self-Direction. — The 
particular  plan  or  method  for  cultivating  initiative  and 
developing  self-directive  capacity  is  secondary.  The 
essential  thing  is  to  make  provision  for  consecutive  and 
progressive  training  and  get  pupils  to  work  with  enthu- 
siasm and  purpose.  Both  instructional  and  expressive 
activities  should  be  so  organized  and  directed  as  to  pro- 


THE   INTERNAL   GOVERNMENT  :;77 

vide  abundant  opportunities  for  self-activity.  The  dis- 
cussion of  the  best  way  to  proceed  in  the  cultivation  of  ;i 
sense  of  responsibility  is  clarified  by  contrasting  adoles- 
cent and  mature  types  of  experience.  Critical  attitudes 
controlled  by  remote  considerations  are  requisite  in  deal 
ing  productively  with  teaching  method  and  institutional 
control.  Teachers  and  principals  are  charged  with  re- 
sponsibility for  the  direction  and  control  of  all  activities 
of  the  school.  This  responsibility  cannot  be  safely  dele- 
gated. One  needs  only  observe  how  rapidly  any  school 
organization  deteriorates  by  complete  withdrawal  of  adult 
guidance  and  influence  to  be  convinced  of  the  validity 
of  this  view.  Pupils  engaged  in  wholesome  and  legiti- 
mate enterprises  do  not  resent  but  welcome  adult  leader- 
ship. When  selfish  motives  are  dominant  regulation  is 
regarded  as  interference.  The  cry  of  personal  liberty  is 
heard  when  a  socially  misdirected  group  is  regulated  by  a 
higher  authority  than  its  own.  All  school  organizations 
must  receive  their  charters  from  responsible  sources. 
One  of  the  provisions  usually  included  is  that  a  teacher 
shall  be  chosen  as  adviser.  Experience  has  demon- 
strated the  necessity  for  close  supervision. 

Student  Self-Government. — There  have  been  ambi- 
tious attempts  to  organize  schools  for  self-government. 
The  general  agreement  is  that  it  requires  a  greater 
expenditure  of  energy  to  keep  the  school  under  control 
by  this  plan.  The  claim  is  that  pupils  derive  benefits 
commensurate  with  the  increased  difficulties  of  manage- 
ment. It  is  not  proposed  to  withdraw  adult  responsi- 
bility of  teachers  and  principal.  The  machinery  of  gov- 
ernment is  patterned  after  that  of  the  city  or  State. 
Pupils  are  delegated  legislative  and  executive  authority. 
Officers  and  committees  are  chosen  from  among  pupils 


378  THE    MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

and  vested  with  powers  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  fellow 
pupils.  The  machinery  of  government  receives  elaborate 
attention.  The  principal  reserves  the  right  of  final  veto 
power.  Whatever  success  the  plan  has  met  with  is  due 
to  the  extraordinary  executive  ability  and  diplomacy 
of  the  principal.  With  such  a  principal  there  is  little 
doubt  but  that  any  other  plan  would  prove  equally 
effective. 

There  is  a  modified  form  of  pupil  self-government  in 
some  schools.  The  term  is  applied  to  that  method  of 
control  which  is  characterked  by  the  absence  of  rules  and 
regulations.  A  general  statement  is  made  to  the  effect 
that  teachers  and  principal  expect  to  meet  boys  and  girls 
as  gentlemen  and  ladies.  The  expectation  is  that  all 
will  do  what  is  right  and  proper  and  in  all  cases  respect 
the  rights  of  others.  There  is  a  total  absence  of  empha- 
sis on  the  machinery  of  government.  Situations  are  met 
as  they  arise. 

The  serious  difficulty  with  pupil  self-government  prop- 
aganda is  that  a  non-autonomous  body  is  delegated  leg- 
islative and  executive  authority.  In  a  crisis  the  recall 
must  be  exercised.  Sooner  or  later  difficulties  come  and 
some  properly  constituted  authority  steps  in  and  decides 
issues.  Pupils  soon  lose  confidence  in  the  system.  A 
new  administration  is  embarrassed  by  a  set  of  tendencies 
not  altogether  wholesome,  whether  the  scheme  is  aban- 
doned or  continued.  A  comparatively  limited  number  of 
pupils  derive  benefits  claimed  for  the  plan  in  the  perform- 
ance of  official  duties. 

There  are  other  objections  which  may  be  suggested. 
Pupils  are  not  interested  in  the  institutional  means  which 
are  utilized  in  the  organization  and  management  of  the 
school.     Interest  is   the  key-note   in  self-directed  cor- 


THE  INTERNAL   GOVERNMENT  379 

porate  life.  The  advantages  of  a  civic  character  have 
doubtful  validity  as  a  training  for  citizenship. 

The  crucial  point  in  the  problem  of  self-government  is 
to  be  found  in  the  lack  of  a  feeling  of  responsibility  on 
the  part  of  students  in  college  or  high  school.  When  it  is 
proposed  to  utilize  the  internal  government  of  the  school 
as  a  means  by  which  to  develop  this  trait  one  fails  to  see 
any  hope  of  institutional  stability.  Students  are  not 
seriously  concerned  about  the  conduct  of  each  other.  At 
any  rate  they  are  unwilling  to  assume  responsibility  for 
directing  the  personal  affairs  of  their  neighbors  in  great 
detail.  The  feeling  of  assurance  lies  at  the  centre  of  a 
genuine  sense  of  responsibility.  This  assurance  comes 
out  of  a  feeling  of  capacity  to  deal  with  a  given  situation. 
The  student,  certainly  the  high  school  pupil,  has  not 
developed  a  well-organized  form  of  behavior  which  com- 
ports with  the  rights  of  others.  Through  participation  in 
simpler  types  of  school  organizations,  such  as  the  literary 
and  athletic  clubs,  this  feeling  of  assurance  may  be  de- 
veloped. It  is  the  achievement  of  tangible  results  in 
doable  parts  of  some  enterprise  that  gains  significance  in 
the  growth  of  self-control  and  self-confidence.  An  in- 
dividual who  is  required  to  draw  upon  an  elaborate  code 
of  rules  for  the  control  of  his  conduct  has  difficulty  in 
carrying  his  programme  into  effect. 

The  choice  of  method  in  the  government  of  a  school 
is  not  limited  to  two  mutually  exclusive  alternatives. 
Democracy  as  it  exists  at  any  moment  is  more  than  a  re- 
flection of  the  popular  mind.  It  embodies  the  accumu- 
lated experiences  of  many  generations.  "Society  is  not  a 
thing  that  can  be  dry-docked  for  repairs."  No  form  of 
government  finds  obedience  more  necessary  than  a 
democracy.     Automatic  obedience  and  the  principle  of 


380  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

democracy  are  never  synonymous  terms.  The  machinery 
of  the  State  is  utilized  more  and  more  in  the  control  of 
the  popular  will.  Effective  social  discipline  is  the  re- 
sultant of  many  forces  of  which  drill  in  obedience  is  an 
essential  element.  The  mechanism  of  government  grows 
more  complicated  with  the  development  of  social  insti- 
tutions. More  masterful  methods  of  control  are  applied. 
The  individual  who  is  not  good  enough  for  society  is 
operated  on  as  a  social  safeguard  as  well  as  an  individual 
corrective.  It  is  not  felt  that  in  so  doing  the  government 
is  exercising  despotic  and  arbitrary  powers.  In  much  the 
same  light  the  discipline  or  government  of  the  school  and 
the  school  as  an  institution  may  be  conceived.  A  sane 
and  fruitful  method  of  procedure  would  seem  to  lie 
clearly  in  the  direction  of  explicit  regulation  of  conduct 
through  the  exercise  of  regularly  constituted  authority. 
In  the  last  analysis  this  conception  obtains  even  in  ex- 
treme types  of  pupil  self-government. 

Each  pupil  should  be  recognized  as  an  individual,  not 
a  mere  unit  in  a  school  system.  The  old-fashioned 
methods  of  discipline  with  the  mechanism  of  government 
consciously  formulated  emphasized  the  teacher  as  the 
exponent  of  authority.  There  was  needless  expenditure 
of  energy  in  the  enforcement  of  orders.  The  main  issues 
of  teaching  were  side-tracked.  To  transfer  the  means 
for  directing  the  institutional  life  of  the  school  to  pupils, 
thereby  building  up  elaborate  systems  for  the  regulation 
of  conduct,  meets  with  the  same  serious  objections.  At- 
tention is  diverted  again  from  the  main  issues  of  teaching. 
The  machinery  of  government  is  brought  into  the  centre 
of  school  life.  The  middle-ground  position  would  aim  to 
provide  abundantly  raw  material  for  the  exercise  of  grow- 
ing powers,  to  guide  young  people  in  productive  organi- 


THE   INTERNAL   GOVERNMENT  381 

zation  of  experience,  to  engender  enthusiasm  for  useful 
work.  The  organization  and  direction  of  institutional 
means  with  reference  to  prohibitions  and  restrictions 
will  prove  quite  as  disastrous  as  excessive  devotion  to 
"experience  meetings  and  heart-to-heart  talks" — a  prac- 
tice which  has  been  developing  in  recent  attempts  to  work 
out  a  scheme  of  education  in  harmony  with  easy-going 
doctrines  of  interest  and  adjustment. 

School  is  life  with  a  definite  kind  of  self-directed  ac- 
tivity in  its  own  right;  but  school  is  also  a  preparation 
for  a  different  type  of  life,  a  dominant  characteristic  of 
which  is  capacity  to  co-operate  in  the  solution  of  the  com- 
mon problems  of  society.  Through  varied  contact  with 
members  of  the  school  in  directed  activities  each  pupil 
should  be  given  opportunity  to  measure  his  powers  in 
terms  of  social  sanctions,  thereby  gaining  in  time  a  keen 
sense  of  responsibility  which  implies  a  form  of  organized 
behavior  comporting  with  the  rights  of  others. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    IMPROVEMENT    OF   HIGH    SCHOOL   TEACHERS   IN 
SERVICE  AS  AN  IMPORTANT  FACTOR  IN  THE  SO- 
CIAL ADMINISTRATION  OF  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Charles  Hughes  Johnston,  Ph.D. 

EDITOR  AND  PROFESSOR  OF  SECONDARY   EDUCATION,   UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS 

The  following  natural  subdivisions  of  our  large  general 
topic  of  improvement  of  teachers  in  service  may  be  made : 

i.  A  reasonable  schedule  of  professional  reading  for 
high  school  teachers. 

2.  High  school  faculty  meetings  which  count  profes- 
sionally. 

3.  Constructive  supervision.  (A  problem  primarily  of 
the  average  teaching  in  the  high  school,  assuming  that 
every  one  knows  pretty  well  how  to  detect  very  good  or 
very  bad  teaching,  and  that  the  class  supervisor  in  high 
schools  must  work  professionally  and  co-operatively  with 
those  teachers  who  both  can  and  must  improve  their 
teclmic,  their  fundamental  methods,  and  their  organiza- 
tion of  subject-matter  as  well  as  their  professional  esprit 
de  corps.) 

4.  The  policy  of  departmentalism  and  the  assignment 
of  groups  of  subjects  to  high  school  teachers — the  correla- 
tion between  the  actual  academic  and  professional  train- 
ing of  teachers  and  the  subjects  which  they  are  teaching, 
and  views  and  policies  in  operation  indicating  how  de- 

382 


IMPROVEMENT   OF   HIGH    SCHOOL   TEACHERS      383 

partmentalism  in  the  high  school  administration  of  teach- 
ers and  material  of  instruction  differs  from  or  is  like  that 
of  the  elementary  school  or  of  the  college. 

5.  Promotion  of  high  school  teachers  and  means  of 
measuring  merit.  Factors  (which  might  be  arranged  in 
order  of  their  importance  and  marked  by  a  percentage 
indication  of  value)  which  govern  scales  for  promotion 
of  high  school  teachers;  and,  if  one  should  hazard  a 
judgment,  the  ideal  arrangement  of  these  factors  if  he 
could  remove  existing  obstacles  to  the  adoption  of  an 
ideal  scheme. 

6.  Legitimate  scientific  investigations  which  may  be 
undertaken  by  high  school  teachers. 

7.  The  civic  and  social  equipment  of  the  modern  high 
school  teacher — desirable  and  undesirable  participation 
in  the  political  and  social  life  of  the  community. 

8.  The  common  mistakes  of  new  teachers  and  the 
amount  and  kind  of  classroom  supervision  required  here. 

9.  Certain  miscellaneous  suggestions  for  the  improve- 
ment of  teachers  in  service. 

a.  Policy  of  requiring  attendance  at  summer  schools. 

b.  Policy  of  having  teachers  attend  some  one  or  more 
educational  meeting  in  the  State. 

c.  The  "visiting  day"  for  high  school  teachers. 

d.  Provisions  for  year  or  part-year  leave  of  absence. 
First. — What  is  a  reasonable  schedule  of  professional 

reading  for  high  school  teachers?.  A  prominent  State 
superintendent,  not  long  ago,  wishing  to  stimulate  and 
also  to  test  the  reading  habits  of  high  school  teachers, 
sent  out  a  brief  letter  to  five  hundred  high  school  teach- 
ers offering  to  send  any  one  who  replied  and  promised 
to  return  the  volume  (with  seven  one-cent  stamps) — a 
notable  book,  just  published,  on  secondary  education. 

i 


384  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

He  received  in  all  eight  favorable  replies.  High  school 
teachers  do  not  read.  They  are  not,  as  a  class,  pro- 
fessionally minded.  Their  work  is  not  their  religion, 
though  in  some  cases  their  subject-matter  may  be. 

What  large  organization  may  be  formed  and  what 
local  devices  and  policies  adopted  whereby  there  may  be 
reflected  in  our  high  school  education  the  essential  and 
peculiar  influences  and  vitality  which  can  come  only 
from  those  choice  teachers  who  have  the  reading  habit, 
the  contact  with  worthy  conceptions,  the  stamina  to 
master  extended  and  serious  monograph  and  book  treat- 
ments of  their  own  problems!  There  is  not  for  high 
school  teacher  groups  the  adequate  administrative  ma- 
chinery for  accomplishing  this  high  aim ;  and  the  problem 
is  in  large  measure  this  one  of  administration,  of  organi- 
zation. There  are  needed  high  school  reading  circles  as 
such.  Here,  as  in  other  professional  matters,  these  high 
school  teachers  have  been  overlooked  and  our  efforts 
organized  too  exclusively  for  the  elementary  school  teach- 
ers. 

The  history  of  reading  circles  in  many  of  the  States  is 
most  interesting.  They  have  gone  up,  become  very 
prosperous,  and  gone  down  in  the  same  State,  dependent 
entirely  upon  the  attitude  of  the  State  department  of 
education  and  its  friends  and  upon  the  leaders  in  sec- 
tional teachers'  associations.  Reading  circles  of  high 
school  teachers  have  never  amounted  to  much  yet.  It 
seems,  however,  that  while  the  numbers  are  small  in  pro- 
portion to  the  elementary  school  teachers,  the  kind  and 
quality  are  such  that  a  very  considerable  majority  of 
them  ought  to  be  enrolled  in  a  good  reading  circle  planned 
on  sane  lines  and  with  a  definite  programme.  They 
would  welcome  such  an  organization.    Publishers  cannot 


IMPROVEMENT   OF   HIGH   SCHOOL   TEACHERS      385 

accomplish  this.  Superintendents,  high  school  principals, 
and  teachers  can  accomplish  it;  but  in  order  to  do  so 
they  have  necessarily  to  enlist  the  active,  energetic,  and 
sympathetic  support  of  the  State  superintendent,  city 
and  county  superintendents,  and  others  in  authority. 
And  not  only  that,  but  somebody  with  a  keen  head  for 
organization  must  formulate  a  plan  for  creating  a  State- 
wide organization  properly  manned  by  an  efficient  board 
of  directors.  It  will  not  do  to  acquiesce  in  the  present 
tacit  assumption  that  it  will  do  to  leave  a  high  school 
reading  circle  in  the  hands  of  the  same  people  who  are 
selecting  teachers'  reading-circle  books  for  elementary 
schools.  Such  teaching-circle  boards  are  in  a  war  all  the 
time  between  one  publisher  and  another  over  what  books 
they  shall  select.  By  the  time  they  get  through  choosing 
the  elementary  school  teachers'  books,  they  have  lost  all 
of  their  enthusiasm  and  they  are  very  loath  to  concern 
themselves  with  high  school  books. 

The  reading  circles  are  greatly  stimulated  in  the  State 
of  Virginia  by  the  State  board  requirement  regarding 
professional  reading  for  teachers.  There  are  no  life  cer- 
tificates, and  the  condition  for  renewal  of  all  certificates 
is  the  satisfactory  completion  of  reading  courses  which  are 
differentiated  for  elementary  and  high  school  teachers. 
There  is  a  movement  in  Wisconsin  now  to  reorganize  the 
reading  circles,  which  at  present  are  administered  with 
the  county  as  the  unit  and  only  for  rural  school  teachers. 
West  Virginia  has  six  thousand  teachers  read  certain  pre- 
scribed books,  and  the  lists  discriminate  between  books 
for  elementary  and  for  high  school  teachers.  The  differ- 
ent State  examinations  for  certificates  are  based  largely 
upon  these  different  book  lists.  Something  similar  exists 
in  a  few  other  States,  and  there  is  a  tendency  to  take 


3S6  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

more  seriously  the  quality  of  the  books  and  the  fitness 
for  the  particular  group  of  teachers  for  whom  they  are 
chosen. 

In  addition  to  this  larger  and  important  State  unit  of 
organization  planned  for  the  advancement  of  the  pro- 
fessional work  of  teachers  in  service  there  must  be  smaller 
and  more  compact  and  segregated  local  units  for  par- 
ticular sorts  of  work,  and  city  units  for  a  still  more  tech- 
nical, local,  and  at  the  same  time  more  extended  read- 
ing-and-study  courses. 

An  interesting  effort  along  this  line  is  the  establish- 
ment at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  in  the  Municipal  Building  for 
the  use  of  supervisors,  principals,  and  teachers,  of  a  pro- 
fessional library  and  reading-room.  Books  on  psychol- 
ogy, history  of  education,  educational  administration, 
secondary  education,  and  current  educational  bulletins 
and  magazines  are  supplied.  There  is  offered  here  also 
systematic  advice  as  to  definite  and  complete  courses  of 
professional  (not  recreational)  reading.  The  library  has 
now  some  fifteen  hundred  volumes  and  was  opened  for 
use  in  September,  191 2.  Each  year  a  carefully  chosen 
committee  of  teachers  suggests  the  best  professional 
books  on  education  which  are  to  be  added  to  the  library. 
In  this  way  all  the  teachers,  superintendents,  and  prin- 
cipals will  have  tempting  opportunities  and  tactful  direc- 
tion for  keeping  in  touch  with  the  best  professional 
educational  thought  and  the  most  reliable  educational 
investigations.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  city  is 
making  here  an  investment  in  affording  these  intellectual 
conditions  and  this  dignified  professional  environment — 
at  least  equally  as  important  as  the  physical — all  of 
which,  in  improved  teacher  spirit  and  service,  will  be 
returned  manifold. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS   ^7 

Kansas  City,  Kans.,  has,  in  the  room  adjoining  the 
principal's  office,  an  alcove  of  books,  which  books  art- 
bought  by  the  principal  and  the  teachers  in  turn,  ana- 
lyzed in  high  school  teachers'  meeting,  and  donated  to 
this  "teachers'  library."  These  high  school  teachers' 
meetings  consider  programme  routine  but  also  matters 
of  broader  policy  and  method.  Each  book  has  for  all 
the  teachers  an  invaluable  constellation  of  associations 
about  it  from  this  intensive  treatment  given  it.  The 
library,  though  small,  means  something  in  terms  of  pro- 
fessional ideals  and  critical  intellectual  mastery.  The 
selections  here  represent  the  best  books  and  monographs 
there  are  on  secondary  education,  and  there  is  nothing 
which  has  not  been  used.  It  takes  time  and  faith  in  the 
results  of  intellectual  integrity  to  persevere  to  the  finish 
in  carrying  through  any  sort  of  reasonable  schedule  of 
professional  reading  for  high  school  teachers.  It  can  be 
done,  however,  and  something  very  fundamental  to  the 
best  school  work  is  sacrificed  if  it  is  neglected.  A  reason- 
able amount  of  reading  for  any  high  school  teacher  is  a 
good  book  on  her  major  subject  and  a  good  one  on  high 
school  education,  but  this  is  the  very  minimum. 

Second. — High  school  faculty  meetings  which  count 
professionally  are  rare.  Many  high  school  principals 
who  are  fine  business  managers,  and  can  manipulate  a 
variety  of  card  catalogues  and  even  devise  and  clerically 
keep  up  with  complex  systems  of  itemized  records,  have 
still  found  it  impossible  to  make  a  high  school  teachers' 
meeting  go.  Some  with  such  a  discovery  have  decided 
that  faculty  meetings  of  high  school  teachers  should  be 
very  infrequent  and,  when  called,  concerned  with  some 
unusual  thing.  Others  have  decided  that  these  meetings 
should  be  called  and  dismissed  with  despatch,  that  noth- 


388  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ing  should  drag,  as  is  so  often  now  the  case.  These  lat- 
ter, as  do  the  former,  seem  to  feel  that  the  meetings  can't 
be  made  interesting  and  can't  be  important  except  as  a 
sort  of  clearing-house  event  for  announcements,  tempo- 
rary shifts  in  daily  programmes,  or  attention  to  some 
unusual  occurrence  which  requires  abrupt  modification  of 
routine — in  short,  must  deal  only  with  mechanical  ad- 
justments. But  there  is  a  class  of  high  school  principals 
who  do  seize  upon  the  high  school  faculty  organization  as 
an  organized  body  that  exists  partly  to  develop  a  corpo- 
rate professional  spirit.  Such  a  principal  utilizes  the  fac- 
ulty deliberations  and  its  contributions  and  judgments 
as  a  body  on  all  matters  involving  broadly  the  general 
educational  policies  of  the  high  school.  Such  issues,  for 
example,  as  the  present  very  critical  schemes  for  different 
modes  of  articulation  with  lower  and  higher  grades  of  ed- 
ucation (Chapter  V),  " Scientific  Management"  (Chap- 
ter IV),  legal  status,  and  other  broad  questions  of  in- 
stitutional relationships  generally  furnish  occasions  for 
serious  and  prolonged  faculty  meetings. 

In  addition  to  such  big  questions,  which  should  be  dis- 
cussed co-operatively  in  a  body  of  one's  teachers,  come 
still  more  urgently  those  near  problems  of  administering 
curriculums,  or,  as  they  are  wrongly  called,  "courses  of 
study."1  Here  the  average  high  school  teacher  is  left  in 
a  maze.  She  has  been  deprived  of  this  chance  for  prog- 
ress in  curriculum  thinking.  Here,  moreover,  she  has 
contributions  to  offer. 

Again,  such  meetings  will  sometimes  have,  as  a  body, 

to  spend  systematically  hours  in  deliberation  upon  the 

fascinating  but  in  many  ways  perilous  extensions  of  the 

high  school  into  new  fields  of  economic,  practical,  moral, 

1  See  "High  School  Education,"  Johnston  and  others,  p.  in. 


IMPROVEMENT   OF   HIGH   SCHOOL   TEACHERS      389 

recreational,  and  other  types  of  so-called  "social  servii  e." 
For  the  cause  of  training  teachers  in  service,  1 1  i u:  1 1  school 
teachers  in  faculty  meetings,  and  probably  in  smaller 
groups  carefully  determined,  must  all  be  allowed  to  ap- 
preciate policies  in  operation,  plans  to  be  projected,  and 
methods  to  be  employed  by  the  administration.  They 
must  also  have  the  stimulus  that  comes  from  feeling  that 
they  can  contribute,  at  least,  to  the  temporary  solutions 
of  these  questions.  Even  matters  of  the  different  sorts 
of  pedagogical  technic  for  the  different  subjects  and  the 
economic  devices  for  classroom  management,  professional 
interchange  of  practice,  convictions  and  conceptions  of 
distinguishable  educational  values  would  be  clarified  and 
often  modified  by  this  professional  interchange  of  points 
of  view — and  are  well  in  order  in  the  right  sort  of  high 
school  faculty  meeting.1  There  are  routine  matters  to  be 
considered  by  the  faculty,  of  course,  but  there  should  be 
large  things  also  always  under  consideration,  with  capa- 
ble committees  always  at  work  upon  them.  Such  real 
meetings  require  leadership.  Neither  the  leader  (the 
principal)  nor  teachers  should  take  attendance  and  par- 
ticipation as  a  bore,  nor  as  a  matter  of  course,  nor  even 
as  a  duty.  It  should  be  a  privilege.  The  proper  con- 
ception on  the  part  of  the  principal  of  the  best  prob- 
lems and  method  of  attack,  with  a  modicum  of  tact  and 
professional  enthusiasm,  can  make  high  school  faculty 
meetings  "count  professionally." 

Mr.  J.  Stanley  Brown,  whose  high  school  at  Joliet,  111., 
has  many  unique  features,  reports  that  he  has  found  the 
faculty  organization  very  effective  and  very  responsive 
to  invitations  to  co-operate  in  working  out  even  those 

1  For  elaboration  of  this  view  see  "High  School  Education,"  Introduc- 
tion and  Chapters  I  and  II. 


390  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

technical,  vital  problems  of  school  administration  whose 
solution  may  require  extensive  and  prolonged  investiga- 
tion. Some  of  the  successful  discussions  by  this  high 
school  faculty  have  centred  around  the  adequate  and 
thoroughgoing  reporting  of  the  results  of  different  round- 
table  discussions  at  the  sectional  State  teachers'  associa- 
tions. Another  topic,  which  eventuated  after  several 
thrashings  over  in  faculty  meetings  in  definite  action, 
was  that  of  the  length  of  the  school  day,  another  that  of 
the  "helping  teacher."  Again,  some  teachers  were  dele- 
gated to  visit  the  Gary,  Ind.,  school  system  and  to  pro- 
pose for  faculty  deliberation  any  feature  of  this  nation- 
ally interesting  system  which  might  be  adapted  to  the 
educational  conditions  at  Joliet.  Mr.  Brown,  as  will 
others,  admits  that  some  teachers  seem  bored,  but  on 
the  whole  that  these  meetings  are  quite  as  profitable  as 
any  of  the  more  pretentious  periodic  gatherings  of  teach- 
ers into  larger  groups.  He  contends  that  most  of  the 
petty  details  should  be  eliminated  from  such  meetings  if 
they  are  to  count  professionally.  His  science  teachers, 
as  an  example  of  typical  problems  requiring  co-oper- 
ative study,  proposed  in  faculty  meeting  that  the 
daily  schedule  be  so  modified  that  all  science  work  might 
be  arranged  for  on  the  " two-consecutive-period"  plan. 
They  had  to  persuade  the  faculty,  many  of  whom  were 
at  first  opposed  to  the  plan,  to  favorable  action.  Then, 
in  turn,  such  readjustments,  fought  out  on  the  basis  of 
fundamental  principles  of  school  work  as  a  whole,  were 
proposed  for  algebra,  arithmetic,  bookkeeping,  first-year 
German,  and  first-year  Latin,  those  successfully  advocat- 
ing such  innovations  in  each  case  furnishing  pertinent 
school  data  in  support  of  their  claim. 

The  two-hour  period,  with  time  for  "directed  study," 
somewhat  similar  in  principle  to  the  plan  advocated  in 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS     391 

Chapter  XI,  by  graduated  stages  of  faculty  self-education 
by  this  genuine  scientific  procedure,  thus  evolved.  The 
faculty  is  practically  a  unit  now  in  indorsing  the  princi- 
ple for  the  above  subjects,  though  some  teachers  in  cer- 
tain subjects  are  still  unconvinced.  The  natural  pro- 
cedure at  this  stage,  as  Mr.  Brown  rightly  contends,  is  to 
continue  the  investigation  by  securing  data  of  every  reli- 
able sort  which  eventually  will  discredit  either  the  one- 
hour  or  the  two-hour  arrangement.  When  high  school 
faculties  generally,  as  a  matter  of  course,  attack  such 
problems  as  these  the  programme  for  scientific  procedure 
and  intelligible  principles  and  precedents  in  secondary 
education  is  definitely  assured. 

Third. — The  problem  of  constructive  supervision. 
What  is  it?  Some  high  school  principals  mean  by  super- 
vision the  clerical  and  general  managerial  work  of  run- 
ning the  physical  plant  and  the  schedule  which,  in  turn, 
like  a  mill-wheel,  runs  the  teaching  force.  This  type  of  ad- 
ministrator tends  to  place  small  stress  upon  actual  obser- 
vation, analysis,  co-operative  planning,  and  continuous 
systematic  and  periodic  visitation  of  classroom  teaching, 
and  little  also  upon  the  after-conferences  from  these 
visits  concerning  the  fundamental  educational  methods 
and  aims  of  the  teaching  in  question.  With  the  present 
administrative  policy  and  the  numerous  but  unescapable 
clerical  and  other  duties  of  administrators,  classroom  su- 
pervision still  occupies  a  small  part  of  the  principal's  total 
school  day.  The  problem  here  seems  to  be  one  primarily 
of  the  average  teaching  in  the  high  school.  It  may  be 
safely  assumed  that  every  principal,  unless  he  is  hopeless 
himself,  knows  very  well  how  to  detect  very  bad  or  very 
good  teaching.  Real  constructive  supervision  is  that 
kind  which  provides  ways  and  means  of  developing  the 
average  teacher  out  of  her  mediocrity.    One  of  the  great- 


392  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

est  problems  for  the  immediate  future  of  the  high  school 
is  that  of  developing  those  qualities  of  classroom  super- 
vision and  the  consequent  personal  conferences  known 
as  "follow-up  methods,"  all  of  which  bring  about  condi- 
tions favorable  to  the  principal's  working  professionally 
and  co-operatively  with  these  average  teachers.  This 
large  group,  if  conditions  are  made  right,  both  can  and 
must  improve  their  technic,  their  fundamental  methods, 
and  the  organization  into  clear  instruction  units  of  their 
subject-matter  in  the  different  courses. 

The  following  quotation  from  the  report  of  a  recent 
survey  of  Boise  City  schools  is  suggestive  of  one  way  in 
which  co-operative  effort  may  develop  a  favorable  con- 
dition for  a  high  type  of  supervision — a  sort  of  corporate 
professional  spirit  which  would  soon  run  of  its  own 
momentum: 

The  work  of  the  supervisory  staff  might  to  advantage  be 
developed  along  three  lines.  First,  in  addition  to  the  present 
irregular  exhibits  of  the  work  of  pupils,  there  should  be  provided 
a  continuing,  but  constantly  changing,  exhibit  of  the  various 
phases  of  school  work  in  order  that  the  best  results  accomplished 
in  the  system  may  be  made  constantly  available  for  all  the 
teachers.  Such  an  exhibit  would  consist  of  the  following  types 
of  materials:  Written  work  of  pupils,  examples  of  the  work  in 
drawing,  suggestions  for  supplementary  reading  for  pupils  and 
teachers,  collections  of  illustrative  material  found  valuable  in 
classroom  teaching,  examples  of  constructive  work,  whether  in 
paper,  wood,  clay,  or  other  medium,  teachers'  plans  which  have 
been  successfully  carried  out,  and  the  like.  In  addition  to  the 
work  done  by  the  supervisors  in  demonstrating  methods  of 
work,  it  would  seem  advantageous  to  call  upon  the  teachers  who 
are  doing  superior  work  to  demonstrate  to  their  colleagues  by 
actually  teaching  their  classes  under  observation. 

Investigation  doubtless  would  show  a  wide  difference 
between  what  may  be  estimated  as  the  average  daily 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS     393 

time  actually  spent  in  classroom  supervision  and  the  rel- 
ative amount  of  time  for  such  work  an  ideal  distribution 
would  call  for.  Even  on  this  latter  ideal  basis,  however, 
wide  divergence  of  opinion  would  be  found.  In  theory 
the  all-important  work  of  a  principal  is  supervising  and 
directing  the  educating  of  pupils.  Most  other  adminis- 
trative duties  of  the  principal  should  be  subordinated  to 
this  end.  It  is  for  this  that  the  principal  should  be  freed 
from  the  numerous  and  exacting  clerical  and  adminis- 
trative duties  whenever  possible.  In  order  to  be  a  factor 
in  the  elimination  of  non-essentials  and  in  vitalizing 
methods,  some  one  must  be  supplied,  even  if  it  be  a 
teacher  or  a  substitute  teacher,  to  assist  the  principal  in 
the  mere  routine.  Rochester  follows  this  plan  through- 
out the  whole  system.  Some  classrooms  in  all  schools 
are  really  working  out  contributions,  others  are  as  surely 
needing  them.  The  principal,  or  the  superintendent  in 
the  smaller  systems,  is  the  only  central  authority,  by 
virtue  of  his  close  and  constant  contact  with  teacher, 
student,  and  parent,  to  find  the  weaknesses,  collect  the 
special  contributions,  and  disseminate  the  proper  ideals 
throughout  the  whole  system.  The  following  chart  illus- 
trates the  practical  judgment  of  schoolmen  on  the  ques- 
tion of  the  actual  and  the  ideal  distribution  of  the  princi- 
pal's day,  with  particular  reference  to  the  possible  time 
which  might  reasonably  be  given  to  supervision  of  teach- 
ing. When  the  high  school  principal  evolves  into  the 
social  administrator,  as  Perry  in  Chapter  XXI  of  this 
book  shows  he  is  now  rapidly  doing,  a  readjustment  of 
duties  for  his  professional  day  and  a  consequent  reappor- 
tionment of  his  time  will  come.  Very  likely  one  of  the 
changes  will  be  in  the  direction  indicated  on  the  accom- 
panying chart. 


394 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


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IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS     395 

Fourth. — As  to  departmental  policy  and  the  idea  and 
general  educational  principles  behind  the  present  prac- 
tice of  assigning  work  and  subjects  to  teachers,  there  is 
no  well-developed  policy  and  there  have  been  formulated 
no  clear  educational  principles. — When  high  school  "de- 
partmentalism" is  spoken  of  the  term  is  used  as  it  ap- 
plies in  college  and  university  administration.  Units  of 
credit,  college-entrance  requirements,  elective  and  pre- 
scribed courses,  majors  and  minors  are  discussed  in  terms 
of  college  departmentalism.  The  assumption  is  that 
high  school  work  must  be  administered  more  or  less  as 
college  work  is.  On  the  other  hand,  when  secondary 
education  is  thought  of  as  a  work  for  students  rather 
than,  as  above,  in  the  interests  primarily  of  logical  divi- 
sions of  subject-matter,  the  tendency  is  to  assume  that 
there  is  little  or  no  differentiation  of  subject-matter  at 
all,  that  there  are  only  intercorrelated  not  differentiated 
and  co-ordinated  courses.  The  thinking  is  in  terms  of 
the  educational  principles  governing  the  making  of  the 
elementary  curriculum ;  that  is,  curriculum  and  adminis- 
trative thinking  about  secondary  education  is  done  in 
terms  either  of  the  college  or  of  the  elementary  school — 
rarely  explicitly  with  reference  to  the  secondary  as  some- 
thing peculiar  unto  itself.  With  respect  to  some  of  these 
problems,  practice  parallels  theory.  High  school  prin- 
ciples administer  as  is  done  in  elementary  education;  pro- 
scribe, promote,  and  graduate  as  colleges  do. 

The  real  problem  here  is  with  the  desirable  correlation 
of  the  actual  academic  and  professional  training  of  teach- 
ers and  the  subjects  they  are  teaching.  The  second  as- 
pect of  this  problem  should  be,  in  the  discussion  to  follow, 
at  any  rate,  the  departmentalism  policies  now  in  opera- 
tion in  different  systems  of  high  school  administration 


396  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

which  indicate  the  respects  in  which  the  preparation  of 
teachers  and  the  grouping  of  subjects  for  teachers  seem 
to  show  how  high  school  departmentalism  must  differ 
from  and  the  respect  in  which  it  must  be  like  either  that 
of  the  elementary  school  or  that  of  the  college.  The  high 
school's  problem  here  is  different  from  that  of  either  of 
the  other  institutions,  and  this  is  an  urgent  problem  of 
administration  bearing  directly  upon  effectiveness  and 
progress  of  teachers  in  service.  If  a  teacher's  teaching 
assets  are  not  utilized  they  are  lost  to  the  profession. 
Tables  and  charts  in  Chapter  IV  illustrate  for  one  State 
the  condition  which,  without  such  large  scale  analysis, 
is  not  so  keenly  realized.  It  is  a  condition  and  general 
practice  which  militates  against  the  progress  of  teachers 
in  service. 

Fifth. — Promotion  of  high  school  teachers  and  means 
of  measuring  merit.  No  permanent  progress  may  be 
effected  in  teachers  generally  unless  just,  systematic,  and 
intelligible  treatment  be  assured  them  in  the  way  of 
tenure  and  promotion  in  rank  and  salary. 

Once  all  assumed  a  teacher  was  efficient  or  a  type  of 
education  efficient  if  no  one  successfully  disproved  this 
common  claim  of  efficiency.  To-day  all  are  tending  to 
hold  judgments  in  reserve  regarding  either  a  school  sys- 
tem or  an  individual  teacher  until  it  or  she  can  meet  cer- 
tain definite  standards  of  efficiency.  The  "born  not 
made"  characterization  of  a  good  teacher,  instead  of  in- 
suring the  impossibility  of  measuring  this  perplexing  per- 
sonal factor  in  teaching,  virtually  means,  on  the  contrary, 
that  certain  recognizable  types  of  personality  are,  among 
other  things,  essential  in  the  profession  of  teaching. 

The  first  natural  step  toward  determining  teaching 
essentials  and  listing  these  in  a  hierarchy  would  be  to 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS     397 

select  a  group  of  "best  teachers,"  as  judged  by  practical 
standards,  and  then  analyze  and  define  the  teaching 
qualities  which  stand  out  for  the  group.  Perhaps  the 
next  differentiation  of  desirable  qualities  might  be  the 
distinguishing  of  native  qualities  and  of  acquired  quali- 
ties. At  present  we  have  more  definite  standards  of 
qualification  for  the  acquired  qualities  than  for  the  na- 
tive. The  next  step  is  to  devise  a  complete  scale,  or 
graduated  schedule,  for  these  groups  of  qualities.  E.  C. 
Elliott,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  has  developed 
such  a  schedule  of  the  following  items,  with  percentage 
values  calculated  for  each: 

Physical  efficiency  (health,  voice,  endurance,  etc.),  80 
points  out  of  1,000;  moral  or  native  efficiency  (self- 
control,  optimism,  sympathy,  tact,  judgment,  etc.),  100 
points;  administrative  efficiency  (promptness,  economy, 
co-operation,  etc.),  80  points;  dynamic  efficiency  (scholar- 
ship, professional  training,  classroom  skill,  etc.),  160 
points;  projected  efficiency  (continued  professional  study, 
travel,  reading,  etc.),  50  points;  achieved  efficiency  (by 
tests  of  achievement),  250  points;  social  efficiency  (cul- 
tural, civic,  social  intra  and  extra  mural  work),  80  points; 
directive  or  supervisory  efficiency,  200  points. 

Many  school  administrators  have  adopted  in  a  rough 
way  some  sort  of  schematic  method  of  analyzing  and 
evaluating  the  different  factors  of  successful  teaching. 
Many  of  these  are  reported  in  the  late  191 2-13  issues  of 
The  Educational  Review.  The  following  letter  of  Superin- 
tendent Clement  is  an  example  in  point: 

I  am  enthusiastic  over  results  secured  from  an  experimental 
application  of  Doctor  Elliott's  plan  of  measurement.  Fifty  per 
cent  of  our  teachers  did  summer-school  work  this  past  year.  I 
attribute  the  interest  in  this  direction  largely  to  a  systematic 


398  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

study  of  a  definite  plan  of  measurement.  The  teachers  were 
made  conscious  of  certain  inefficiencies  as  much  through  self- 
examination  as  through  direct  or  constructive  criticism  on  the 
part  of  the  supervisor.  In  other  words,  this  scheme  of  mea- 
surement served  pretty  largely  as  a  mirror  for  each  individual 
teacher.  In  my  article  I  have  discussed  a  number  of  the  current 
objections  offered  to  such  a  scheme. 

I  may  say  that  I  am  always  frank  in  telling  the  teachers  under 
my  supervision  that  I  am  constantly  looking  for  the  best- 
equipped  teachers  that  we  are  able  to  secure.  No  teacher  is 
ever  dropped  from  our  list  without  a  fair  consideration.  If  it 
is  evident,  beyond  all  doubt,  that  a  teacher  is  inefficient  in  her 
work  and  she  does  not  make  an  effort  to  remedy  the  weakness, 
she,  of  course,  is  given  very  little  consideration  for  a  re-election. 
In  the  use  of  a  scheme  of  measurement  I  think  it  essential  to 
allow  real  facts  to  enter  into  our  judgments.  Prejudice  and  su- 
perficial complaints  must  not  be  determining  elements. 

The  following  paragraphs  from  different  high  school 
teachers  who  have  worked  under  such  a  scale  suggest 
its  practicability: 

I  would  say  I  believe  the  scheme  is  not  only  feasible  but 
desirable.  I  think  the  conscientious  teacher  is  not  embarrassed 
by  having  the  points  in  which  she  is  to  be  judged  put  before  her, 
that  rather  this  knowledge  helps  her  to  measure  herself  and  by 
having  some  definite  standard  of  measurement  to  discover  weak 
points  in  herself  and  her  work  which  she  might  otherwise  over- 
look. 

Instead  of  making  the  teacher  feel  that  the  supervisor  is  an 
autocrat,  to  my  mind  it  makes  her  feel  that  he  is  a  just  judge  in 
that  he  puts  into  her  hands  his  rule  of  measurement  and  permits 
her  to  feel  that  she  has  an  opportunity  to  bring  herself  up  to  his 
standard. 

The  supervisor  who  applies  this  scheme  as  it  is  undoubtedly 
intended  to  be  applied  will  find  that  his  teachers  look  upon  him 
as  a  friend  who  is  endeavoring  to  help  them  to  reach  the  highest 
standards  of  efficiency. 

Personally  nothing  which  has  been  presented  to  me  in  years 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS     399 

has  given  me  more  food  for  thought  and  more  desire  to  improve 
myself  and  my  work  than  this  scheme. 
I  firmly  believe  that  only  after  this  scheme  has  been  in  actual 

use  for  a  number  of  years  will  we  be  able  to  appreciate  fully  ii ^ 
real  worth  and  value. 

I  do  not  think  that  any  individual  who  is  public-spirited 
enough  to  be  a  real  teacher  would  be  embarrassed  or  made  too 
conscious  of  the  particulars  in  which  she  is  to  be  judged  in- 
measured. 

I  place  a  very  high  estimate  upon  its  value,  not  only  to  tin- 
teacher  but  reaching  out  beyond  her  to  the  school.  1  believe 
that  the  scheme  is  in  every  respect  a  feasible  one. 

After  numerous  pioneer  exploitations  such  as  these 
have  been  recorded,  and  after  some  scientific  collections 
and  interpretations  of  those  varied  and  measurably  suc- 
cessful schemes  have  been  made,  it  is  certain  that  a  defi- 
nite schedule  of  measuring  teachers  and  of  promoting 
them  on  such  a  basis  will  come  about.  Vagueness  of  re- 
quirement in  school  administration  always  means  neg- 
lect, whereas  requirements  which  are  met  are  always  defi- 
nite requirements.  Such  definite  so-called  scales  to 
measure  the  fruits  of  teaching  are  devised,  subject  to  ex- 
tensive modifications  still,  for  distinguishable  abilities  or 
efficiency  and  for  progress  in  arithmetic,  handwriting, 
spelling,  and  English  composition.  This  is  a  hopeful 
indication  of  the  progress  of  teaching,  but  one  should 
always  keep  in  mind  that  one-sidedness  will  inevitably 
result,  and  doubtless  has  already  resulted,  from  fixing 
too  exclusively  our  attention  upon  relatively  exact  stand- 
ards in  some  portions  of  the  field  of  the  teacher's  activity 
to  the  neglect  of  the  more  delicately-to-be-conceived 
standards  for  subtler  aspects  of  the  work.  To  oxer- 
emphasize  obedience  to  standards  in  academic  subject- 
matter  and  not  at  the  same  time  to  attempt  to  stand- 


400 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


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402  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ardize  or  to  place  relative  emphasis  upon  those  factors 
of  judgment,  enthusiasm,  intellectual  honesty,  social 
efficiency,  moral  and  religious  wholesomeness,  produc- 
tive imagination,  aesthetic  discrimination,  and  the  like,  is 
merely  in  another  way  to  mechanize  routine  and  deceive 
oneself  into  thinking  his  a  scientific  sort  of  teaching. 

The  Ohio  Survey  card  for  "rating"  high  school 
teachers,  reprinted  on  the  preceding  pages,  seems  to 
be  thoroughgoing  and  illustrative  of  the  principle  here 
advocated. 

Classifications  of  Teachers. — A  superintendent  re- 
cently classified  his  teachers  as  follows,  largely  with  refer- 
ence to  the  point  here  under  discussion: 

There  are  about  five  classes  of  teachers  in  their  attitude  to- 
ward criticism:  (i)  those  who  are  dull  and  do  not  seem  to  realize 
the  force  of  the  criticism,  (2)  those  who  understand  but  are 
indifferent  and  do  not  care,  (3)  those  who  begin  to  weep  and  wish 
to  hand  in  their  resignations  at  once,  (4)  those  who  flare  up  and 
state  that  they  have  known  all  along  that  the  superintendent  had 
it  in  for  them  and  was  unwilling  to  give  them  a  square  deal,  and 
(5)  those  who  take  the  suggestions  kindly  and  immediately  set 
about  to  improve  along  the  lines  criticised. 

One  can  easily  judge  which  class  of  teachers  makes 
the  social  administration  of  the  high  school  possible.  It 
should'be  added  that  the  supervisor's  duty,  partly,  at 
least,  is  to  increase  the  last-named  class  by  reducing 
the  others — and  not  simply  by  giving  up  this  kind  of 
supervision  altogether. 

Another  classification  from  a  different  and  more  pro- 
fessional point  of  view  is  the  following : 

Teachers  in  actual  service  and  more  or  less  in  need  of  after- 
training  may  be  considered  in  groups  which,  omitting  minor  dif- 
ferences, are  somewhat  as  follows: 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS     403 

i.  Superior  teachers  who  need  no  stimulation  other  than 
their  own  ideals  of  excellence.  By  the  fine  standard  of  work 
which  they  maintain  and  by  their  student-like  habits  they  might, 
under  favorable  conditions,  set  the  pace  for  the  less  efficient. 
With  this  group,  supervision  is  chiefly  concerned  in  gaining  their 
co-operation  in  working  out  problems  and  in  making  their  skill 
serviceable  to  other  teachers. 

2.  Teachers  possessing  a  good  degree  of  executive  ability  and 
adequate  scholarship  of  the  book-learning  variety,  who  resist 
change  because  they  honestly  believe  the  old  ways  are  better. 
They  are  patriotic  defenders  of  the  views  and  traditions  and 
practices  in  which  they  were  reared.  The  greater  number  of 
these  will  as  strongly  support  the  new  when  fully  convinced  of 
its  advantages;  but  in  the  absence  of  positive  orders  they  resist 
proposed  changes  until  absolutely  conclusive  demonstration  is 
furnished  in  a  concrete  way.  Supervision  must  confidently  ac- 
cept these  conditions  and  furnish  the  demonstration. 

3.  Teachers  lacking  adequate  scholarship  or  practical  skill, 
or  both;  self-conscious  and  timid  because  unacquainted  with 
standards  of  work  and  valid  guiding  principles;  desirous  of  avoid- 
ing observation;  doing  their  work  in  a  more  or  less  perfunctory 
and  fortuitous  way.  Supervision  needs  to  give  these  teachers 
courage  by  an  exhibition  of  standards  plainly  within  their  reach 
and  by  personal  work  in  their  own  schoolrooms. 

4.  Teachers  lacking  adequate  scholarship  or  practical  skill, 
or  both,  but  not  conscious  of  this  lack  and  therefore  unaware 
of  any  need  of  assistance.  Some  form  of  positive  direction  is 
here  necessary  in  the  first  stages  of  supervision. 

5.  Teachers  yet  in  the  early  years  of  their  service.  They 
have,  as  a  rule,  had  some  professional  training,  and  from  it  they 
have  gained  one  thing  at  least  of  value  beyond  all  else — namely, 
a  professional  attitude  toward  the  work  of  teaching.  Super- 
vision should  be  able  to  concern  itself  chiefly  in  keeping  these 
teachers  in  Class  1  so  far  as  their  professional  attitude  is  con- 
cerned. There  will,  of  course,  always  be  a  difference  among 
them  in  scholarship  and  personal  power,  but  all  should  have 
guidance  in  kind  and  quantity  adapted  to  prevent  any  of  them, 
even  the  weakest,  from  developing  the  characteristics  of  Class  2, 
Class  3,  or  Class  4.  If  these  new  recruits  are  to  be  able  to  lead 
children  to  be  open-minded,  to  hold  opinions  tentatively,  to  be 


404  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

sure  but  not  too  sure,  to  be  willing  to  give  both  sides  of  a  ques- 
tion a  hearing  before  reaching  a  final  conclusion,  they  must  keep 
themselves  open-minded.  To  aid  them  in  doing  this,  super- 
vision will  keep  itself  free  from  dogmatism  even  in  dealing  with 
the  youngest  teachers. 

Sixth. — Scientific  investigations  by  high  school  teach- 
ers. Professor  George  Herbert  Palmer,  senior  philoso- 
pher of  Harvard,  said  he  voted  for  the  establishment  of  a 
graduate  school  at  Harvard,  when  graduate  schools  were 
ventures  in  America,  not  for  the  sake  of  the  graduate 
student  but  for  the  sake  of  the  undergraduate,  not  in  the 
interests  of  research  for  the  professor  but  in  the  interests 
of  the  research  professor's  teaching  of  undergraduates. 
A  person  without  a  problem  cannot  teach.  In  this  way, 
on  general  principles,  doubtless  it  is  safe  to  advocate  in- 
vestigations by  high  school  teachers.  This  is  becoming 
common  in  the  graduate  work  of  summer  schools  and 
in  the  absentia  work,  notably  such  as  that  done  by  high 
school  teachers  under  the  direction  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin.  There  are  many  problems  which  require  co- 
operative solution  by  groups  of  teachers,  the  principal, 
if  he  is  capable  and  a  master  of  the  method  of  getting 
results  worth  interpretation,  leading  and  directing  the 
work.  Such  questions  as  individual  differences  and  some 
systems  of  recording  these  on  individual  cards  which 
would  make  the  records  essential  to  better  administra- 
tion of  the  school  might  well  occupy  a  large  portion  of 
the  faculty  of  any  number  of  schools  for  a  year  or  more 
and  lead  the  teachers  into  exploring  fields  of  educational 
psychology,  of  physical  and  mental  tests,  of  statistical 
method,  of  school  administration,  and  of  many  others. 
The  marking  system  or  the  problem  of  scales  of  credit 
for  quality  in  high  school  work  leads  one  into  equally 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS     405 

alluring  and  limitless  fields.  Numerous  other  fields  are 
just  as  full  of  problems.  The  co-operative  effort  at  de- 
termining even  roughly  some  reasonable  standards  of 
accomplishment  for  some  or  any  of  the  courses  in  the 
high  school,  or  the  comparative  study  of  distinguishable 
methods  of  teaching  some  subject  like  beginning  geome- 
try, by  sectioning  classes  on  some  fair  basis,  would  quite 
likely  rejuvenate  the  whole  teaching  and  speculative 
spirit  of  a  school.  Or,  if  local  problems  are  not  easily 
conceived,  some  schools  could  get  into  communication 
with  the  permanent  committee  on  the  reorganization  of 
Secondary  Education  of  the  National  Education  Asso- 
ciation. This  important  committee  has  ten  active  sub- 
committees of  experts  projecting  a  most  fascinating  pro- 
gramme for  investigations  concerned  with  problems  not 
in  any  case  foreign  to  the  every-day  experience  of  high 
school  teachers  generally.  The  problems  and  methods 
of  investigation  are  given  in  some  detail. 

Seventh. — Civic  and  social  equipment  of  the  modern 
high  school  teacher.  Judge  Ben  Lindsey  thinks  there  is 
"a  sad  need  of  some  practical  system  of  instruction  in  the 
principles  of  justice;  not  necessarily,  nor  at  all,  those 
advocated  by  any  particular  party."  "I  believe,"  says 
he,  "  that  there  should  be  some  more  practical  instruction 
in  politics,  the  meaning  of  politics,  and  the  necessity  of 
an  interest  in  politics,  in  order  to  bring  about  social  and 
industrial  justice  in  civic,  municipal,  and  national  affairs. 
I  believe  this  could  be  done  (in  the  schools)  without 
being  offensive  to  any  faction  or  party/'  The  whole 
problem  is,  What  is  the  legitimate  field  of  activity  of  high 
school  teachers  as  public  servants?  What  must  be  their 
abilities  in  the  way  of  enlightenment  and  training  of  the 
genuine  civic  and  political  insights  which  must  be  pro- 


406  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

vided  for  high  school  students  before  graduation?  In 
addition  to  the  layman's  suggestion  above  and  to  the 
need  for  the  school's  co-operation  with  various  home 
and  school  associations,  there  should  come  frequently 
from  school  administrators  candid  counsel  and  clear  ad- 
monition to  the  ranks  of  high  school  teachers  as  to  how 
to  become  real  citizens,  to  get  outside  the  traditional 
academic  confines,  to  have  views  and  to  stand  for  im- 
portant convictions  on  local,  municipal,  county,  State, 
social,  moral,  and  broadly  national  issues.  Cattell  con- 
cludes a  recent  lengthy  arraignment  of  our  public  schools 
thus:  "The  influence  of  our  half  million  teachers  on  the 
problems  of  democracy  and  civilization  is  entirely  in- 
significant." This  is  untrue  and  unjust,  but  it  is  well 
for  all  teachers  to  admit  that  a  personal  embodiment  of 
modern  citizenship  qualities  in  such  a  way  as  to  weave 
them  into  the  daily  instruction  and  to  inculcate  such 
principles  into  the  school  organizations  of  the  student 
body  is  a  fine  teaching  asset  and  will  make  for  progress 
of  teachers  in  service.  The  most  effective  organizations 
through  which  parents  and  teachers  may  co-operate  in 
inculcating  those  common  civic  principles  and  in  form- 
ing genuine  civic  consciences  in  high  school  students 
have  not  yet,  perhaps,  been  adopted  or  even  conceived 
anywhere.  It  is,  however,  distinctly  and  specifically 
written  down  in  the  immediate  future  programme  for 
high  school  extension  and  has  been  dealt  with  exten- 
sively in  Chapters  XII  and  XIII  of  this  book. 

Eighth. — Common  mistakes  of  new  teachers  and 
amount  and  kind  of  supervision  of  class  work  required. 
It  is  a  common  saying  of  schoolmen  that  raw  high  school 
teachers  must,  under  present  conditions,  do  their  unsu- 
pervised teaching  on  high  school  students  for  a  year  or 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS      107 

more  somewhere.  Some  supply  this  by  requiring  the 
practice  to  be  done  in  the  city  grades;  others  in  some 
smaller  and  more  helpless  high  school;  others  still  provide 
for  it — -New  York,  Rochester,  St.  Paul,  for  examples— 
by  assigning  such  persons  to  the  substitute  positions  and 
requiring  an  apprenticeship  of  a  year  or  two  under  expert 
supervising  critic  teachers  who  at  other  times,  also, 
demonstrate  good  teaching  to  these  same  apprentices. 
The  survey  report  of  Boise  City  above  quoted  suggests 
that  those  teachers  doing  superior  work,  in  some  subject 
and  by  some  method  with  novel  features,  conduct  at 
times  for  younger  teachers  a  demonstration  lesson  and 
follow  this  by  discussions  of  the  method  employed.  The 
committee  thinks  this  plan,  tactfully  handled,  offers  one 
of  the  best  means  available  for  improving  teachers  in 
service.  The  Michigan  Association  of  School  Superin- 
tendents recently  appointed  a  committee  to  investigate 
the  situation  with  reference  to  this  yearly  crop  of  raw 
high  school  teachers  in  that  State.  The  committee's  re- 
port, the  product  of  a  year's  investigation,  later  adopted 
and  printed,  in  substance  said  that  raw  high  school  teach- 
ers persisted  for  the  greater  part  of  their  first  year  in 
trying  out  university  methods  of  teaching  and  organi- 
zation of  subject-matter  in  high  schools,  and  that  the 
State  high  schools  needed,  if  it  could  be  supplied,  a 
teacher-training  institution  where  this  crudeness  in  work 
might  be  allowed  less  harmfully  to  wear  away  and  where 
the  chief  aim  might  be  to  help  such  people,  under  con- 
trolled conditions,  to  anticipate  the  real  teaching  condi- 
tions of  high  schools.  The  general  agreement  is  that 
inexperienced  teachers  require  the  great  proportion  of 
co-operative  classroom  supervision,  that  the  work  lor 
first-year  students  requires  a  large  amount  of   super- 


408  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

visory  attention,  and  that  the  first  month  of  the  first 
year  for  those  students  is  the  most  critical  period.  The 
larger  aspects  of  this  topic  have  been  briefly  outlined  in 
the  discussion  above  of  "Constructive  Supervision." 

Ninth. — Miscellaneous  plans  for  improvement  of 
teachers  in  service.  There  seems  to  be  a  general  feeling 
that  teachers  should  be  urged  to  attend  summer  schools. 
In  most  cases  this  doubtless  works  well— doubtless  in  all 
except  those  when  such  study  reduces  the  necessary 
physical  vitality  of  the  teacher.  Some  cities  lay  no  stress 
upon  summer  schools  nor  any  other  effort  at  professional 
development  by  teachers.  What  they  lose  in  service 
is  immeasurable.  Others  practically  require  summer- 
school  attendance  without  any  tangible  reimbursement. 
This  is  a  hardship  on  teachers.  Others  in  increasing 
numbers  promote  teachers  largely  on  the  basis  of  credits 
in  professional  study  of  education  or  in  their  particular 
academic  branches.  Still  other  city  boards  of  education 
with  more  foresight — as  Pittsburgh  or  Rochester  again- 
pay  definite  sums  of  money  in  cash  reimbursements  for 
such  outlay  and  such  indication  of  professional  integrity 
of  purpose.  Several  other  cities  encourage  teachers  to 
take  leaves  of  absence  for  a  year  for  purposes  of  study, 
with  assurance  of  re-election,  some  even  with  no  re-elec- 
tion necessary,  but  without  pay.  Boston,  Cambridge, 
Rochester,  and  a  few  other  cities,  our  most  advanced 
group  in  this  respect,  have  made  provision  by  which 
teachers  may  be  granted  leaves  of  absence  on  half  pay 
for  study  and  travel.  No  other  means  of  professional 
growth  can  be  compared  with  this  one  for  those  who 
can  take  advantage  of  it.  The  summer-school  expense 
allowance  or,  in  other  cases,  assurance  of  promotion,  the 
consideration  for  credits  gained  in  extension  or  correspon- 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS     409 

dence  courses, even  the  expenses  and  day  off  for  "visiting- 
day"  when  this  becomes  an  educational  arrangement 
with  systematic  supervisory  features,  and  also  the  atten- 
dance without  salary  reduction  at  sectional  teachers' 
meetings — all  indicate  hopeful  signs  of  appreciation  of 
the  necessity  of  continual  and  carefully  planned  means 
for  securing  the  improvement  of  teachers  in  service. 
There  is  no  danger  of  going  backward  on  any  of  these 
measures.  The  forward  movement  has  gone  too  slowly 
for  reactions.  Educational  advance  in  this  particular 
is,  however,  now  in  an  era  when  there  is  general  recog- 
nition, by  laymen  as  well  as  by  school  administrators,  to 
quote  a  prominent  city  superintendent,  "that  prepara- 
tion in  a  professional  school  for  teachers,  experience  pre- 
liminary to  permanent  appointment,  continuous  train- 
ing during  service  as  a  permanently  appointed  teacher 
are  all  so  vital  to  the  school  system  as  to  prompt,  when 
fully  appreciated,  the  most  liberal  provisions  possible  for 
securing  the  training  desired." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  ADMINISTRATION   OF  THE   SOCIAL  ACTIVITIES   OF 
HIGH  SCHOOL  STUDENTS 

Jesse  B.  Davis,  A.M. 

PRINCIPAL  OF  THE  CENTRAL  HIGH  SCHOOL  AND  DIRECTOR  OF  VOCATIONAL 
GUIDANCE,   GRAND   RAPIDS,   MICH. 

Attitude  of  the  Administrative  Body. — In  the  "good 
old  days,"  so  often  mentioned  by  the  critics  of  modern 
education,  the  entire  aim  of  the  school  was  to  develop 
the  intellect  to  its  highest  powers,  regardless  of  the 
physical  or  social  needs  of  the  individual.  This  was  a 
natural  aim,  and,  in  its  own  time,  it  was  not  so  harmful  as 
would  now  appear.  The  physical  needs  of  the  pupil 
were  well  cared  for  by  the  labor  that  was  required  about 
the  farm  and  the  house;  and  as  for  his  social  needs,  there 
were  few.  The  population  was  scattered.  Many  of  the 
social  attractions  or  distractions  of  to-day  were  unknown. 
Organization,  co-operation,  and  combination  in  business 
had  not  yet  appeared,  so  that  those  who  attended  the 
high  school  or  academy  were  the  select  few  who  were 
preparing  for  the  learned  professions.  Social  activities 
among  students  were,  in  the  modern  sense,  also  unknown. 
The  so-called  "student  pranks"  were  the  only  evidence 
of  a  breaking  out  of  social  impulses,  and  these  were  elim- 
inated by  severely  punishing  the  culprits  whenever  they 
could  be  caught. 

410 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   SOCIAL    ACTIVITIES      III 

A  Period  of  Toleration. — During  the  last  two  decades 

of  secondary  education  the  growth  of  the  high  school 
has  been  phenomenal.  With  this  growth  came  a  broad 
ening  of  purpose,  a  more  cosmopolitan  body  of  students, 
and  an  imitation  of  the  social  life  of  the  college  and  of  the 
community  in  which  the  school  was  located.  This  era 
brought  many  perplexing  problems  to  the  administra- 
tion of  the  school.  Athletics  took  form  in  interscholastic 
contests  that  gave  rise  to  many  evil  conditions  that  for 
a  time  baffled  all  attempts  at  control.  Secret  societies 
flourished  because  it  was  only  through  them  that  stu- 
dents might  indulge  in  social  entertainment.  Principals 
and  teachers  ignored  the  opportunity  to  enter  into  these 
social  functions,  and  when  they  found  it  impossible  to 
crush  them  they  simply  allowed  them  to  exist  as  a  tol- 
erated evil. 

Attempted  Restriction  of  Privilege.— In  many  cities 
the  social  problem  arising  in  certain  high  schools  became 
notorious.  Drastic  rules  were  passed  by  school  boards. 
Principals  used  their  utmost  power  and  ingenuity  to  curb 
the  power  of  the  secret  societies.  State  laws  were  passed 
prohibiting  secret  societies  in  high  schools,  and  cases  were 
tried  in  the  courts  to  little  avail.  This  attempt  to  restrict 
the  social  impulses  and  advantages  of  pupils  of  high 
school  age  was  a  failure,  because  it  was  unnatural,  illog- 
ical, and  unsympathetic.  It  was  too  clearly  interfering 
with  the  rights  and  privileges  of  socially  endowed  human 
beings.  The  problem  was  attacked  from  the  wrong 
direction. 

Results  of  Past  Neglect. — The  results  of  attempt- 
ing either  to  prohibit  social  activities  among  pupils  or  to 
restrict  them  by  legislation  were  evident  in  the  after- 
lives of  the  pupils.     Those  who  entered  from  homes  with- 


412  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

out  social  advantages  were  turned  out  as  socially  deficient 
as  when  they  entered.  Those  who  had  outside  opportu- 
nities for  social  development  were  fortunate,  but  they 
could  not  exercise  their  powers  legitimately  within  the 
school  except  in  very  limited  ways.  The  faithful  book- 
worm, who  upon  his  graduation  was  proclaimed  vale- 
dictorian of  his  class,  too  often  proved  to  be  a  failure 
in  the  world  outside.  On  the  other  hand,  and  to  the  sur- 
prise and  chagrin  of  his  instructors,  the  boy  who  was  the 
leader  of  every  scheme  of  outlawry  and  the  plotter  of 
every  prank  during  his  school  career,  and  who  may  have 
been  expelled  from  school  because  of  his  ability  to  lead 
others  into  mischief,  became  a  great  and  successful  or- 
ganizer and  leader  of  men  in  the  field  of  business.  Both 
the  narrowly  developed  valedictorian  and  the  outlaw 
were  cheated  out  of  a  part  of  their  rightful  education. 
The  social  nature  of  the  one  should  have  been  drawn  out 
so  that  he  might  have  become  socially  efficient,  and  the 
crude  powers  of  the  other  should  have  been  trained  co- 
ordinately  with  his  intellectual  attainment. 

Training  for  Social  Efficiency. — It  is  only  within  the 
last  few  years  that  the  obligation  resting  upon  the  school 
authorities  to  meet  the  demand  for  socially  efficient 
graduates  has  been  appreciated.  After  much  discussion 
and  investigation  of  the  evil  conditions  resulting  from 
undirected  social  activities,  teachers  have  found  that  the 
fundamental  difficulties  were  not  in  the  school  societies 
themselves.  They  have  found  that  the  evil  conditions 
arose  because  the  faculties  of  our  high  schools  did  not 
guide  and  train  those  immature  boys  and  girls  in  the 
proper  conduct  of  their  social  activities.  Schoolmen 
deliberately  ignored  the  opportunity  that  was  being 
forced  upon  them  to  use  these  very  organizations  as  a 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   SOCIAL   A(   I  l\  I  I  1  ES      U3 

training  school  in  social  efficiency.  Wherever  these  evil 
conditions  have  been  successfully  eliminated  from  the 
student  life  of  the  high  school,  it  has  been  accomplished 
by  substituting  better  activities  for  the  old  and  by  tin- 
co-operation  of  sympathetic  members  of  the  faculty  with 
the  students  who  worked  with  them  upon  the  same  plane 
and  who  led  them,  with  better  methods,  to  more  suc- 
cessful achievements.  Some  progressive  principals  have 
undertaken  systematically  to  organize  all  forms  of  soda! 
activities  among  students  so  that  the  benefits  of  the  social 
training  to  be  obtained  will  be  open  to  the  largest  possi- 
ble number.  Those  pupils  showing  powers  of  initiative, 
qualities  of  leadership,  and  executive  ability  have  been 
given  opportunity  to  develop  these  traits  along  with  their 
scholastic  attainments,  to  the  advantage  of  the  social  life 
of  the  school,  to  the  support  of  the  school  administration, 
and  to  their  own  social  improvement.  This  is  quite  gen- 
erally the  attitude  of  school  authorities  to-day.  Those 
who  have  held  back  or  hesitated  have  been  waiting  to  see 
the  results  of  the  experiments  of  others  and  to  be  shown 
the  way. 

Problems  of  Reformation;  Traditions. — Every  high 
school  principal  or  teacher  who  attempts  to  work  reform 
in  the  social  life  of  a  school  is  bound  to  meet  with  serious 
difficulties  and  possibly  with  opposition.  School  tra- 
ditions are  very  tenacious.  Students  are  loath  to  depart 
in  any  particular  from  historic  social  custom  or  prac- 
tice except  to  excel  the  achievements  of  former  gen- 
erations. In  some  schools  the  modern  principal  will 
meet  with  an  inheritance  from  former  administrations 
that  will  make  it  difficult  for  him  to  obtain  the  good- 
will and  confidence  of  the  student  body.  If  the  at- 
titude of  the  faculty  in  past  years   has  been  one  of 


414  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

opposition  to  student  activities,  if  the  principal  has  spent 
his  time  in  police  and  detective  work  to  catch  those  who 
disobey  his  unreasonable  rules,  if  every  pupil  has  been 
looked  upon  as  a  natural  enemy  to  authority  and  has 
been  treated  with  suspicion  regarding  his  motives  and 
acts,  then  the  reformer  has  much  to  live  down  or  to  over- 
come before  he  can  begin  his  socializing  work. 

Social  Democracy. — One  of  the  chief  objections  to  the 
fraternity  system  was  its  artificial  aristocracy,  its  exclu- 
siveness,  and  its  general  undemocratic  tendency.  This 
same  tendency  is  bound  to  appear  in  any  social  group. 
The  leader  of  social  activities  among  boys  and  girls  every- 
where has  to  battle  with  this  problem  of  human  nature. 
Can  you  find  about  you  any  such  thing  as  real  social 
democracy?  If  you  cannot  find  it  in  neighborhoods,  in 
communities,  or  even  in  churches,  can  you  expect  to  find 
it  among  high  school  boys  and  girls  who  are  but  imitators 
of  those  around  them?  We  are  all  more  or  less  guilty  of 
a  certain  amount  of  exclusiveness.  We  are  just  a  little 
particular  with  whom  we  associate  intimately,  and  we  are 
anxious  to  guard  our  children  in  the  same  way.  The 
high  school  of  to-day  is  a  cosmopolitan  community  in 
itself.  The  pupils  come  from  all  parts  of  the  district, 
from  all  kinds  of  homes  and  environments.  There  are 
many  nationalities  and  many  widely  differing  types. 
Their  habits,  desires,  tastes,  and  characters  are  of  vary- 
ing kinds.  Is  it  possible  or  is  it  desirable  to  insist  upon 
a  programme  of  so-called  social  democracy  that  will  com- 
pel every  social  organization  to  open  its  membership  to 
include  any  who  may  see  fit  to  demand  entrance?  This 
question  is  put  to  arouse  thought  and  not  to  force  an 
affirmative  or  negative  answer.  There  is  a  real  problem 
here  that  every  leader  of  young  people  has  to  meet  and 
to  answer  as  best  he  is  able. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITIES     415 

Conduct  of  Social  Functions. — Closely  related  to  the 
problem  of  democratic  membership  in  school  organiza- 
tions is  the  proper  conduct  of  the  social  functions  given 
by  any  society  or  by  the  school.  The  question  of 
dancing  is  still  a  troublesome  one  in  certain  Localities. 
When  there  is  no  great  objection  to  permitting  dancing 
in  a  school  building,  there  is  the  ever-present  question  of 
propriety.  Questionable  forms  of  dancing  must  be  prohib- 
ited. The  ordinary  formalities  of  social  occasions  must 
be  insisted  upon.  The  invitation  lists  must  be  supervised 
so  that  the  names  of  some  who  may  be  morally  object  ion 
able  shall  be  omitted.  Moreover,  suitable  games  and 
entertainment  must  be  provided  for  those  who  do  not 
dance,  and  these  young  people  must  be  made  to  feel  that 
there  is  a  place  for  them  as  well  as  for  those  who  do 
dance.  Each  party  or  social  occasion  will  present  its 
peculiar  problems  to  the  leader  who  is  trying  to  direct 
the  school  functions  in  a  manner  that  will  prove  of  edu- 
cational value  to  all  of  those  participating. 

Efficient  Leadership. — Not  all  teachers  are  adapted  to 
the  work  of  directing  social  activities  among  students. 
Some  are  lacking  in  tact,  in  sympathy,  in  social  interest, 
or  in  personality,  so  that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  do 
successful  leading.  Still  other  teachers  have  not  yet  been 
convinced  that  it  is  their  duty  or  any  part  of  their  func- 
tion to  do  what  they  call  this  "outside"  work.  How- 
ever, in  every  school  there  are  a  few  teachers  who  are 
known  among  the  pupils  as  their  friends,  and  who  have 
the  faculty  of  getting  down  into  the  lives  of  the  boys  and 
girls  so  that  they  will  come  to  them  in  perfect  confidence. 
These  teachers  are  valued  not  only  by  the  pupils  but  are 
appreciated  by  the  principals  and  loved  by  the  commu- 
nity. This  is  the  type  of  teacher  that  is  needed  in  the 
direction  of  student  activities.     Certain  activities  require 


416  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  direction  of  experts,  as  music,  dramatics,  and  ath- 
letics. Schools  that  have  teachers  in  charge  of  such  de- 
partments are  usually  well  equipped  for  leadership  in 
these  particular  lines.  The  high  school  teacher  of  the 
future  must  be  conscious  of  his  social  mission.  He  or 
she  must  see  this  great  opportunity  to  mould  boys  and 
girls  into  well-rounded  social  beings  prepared  to  live 
efficient  and  useful  lives  as  members  of  a  community. 
When  schools  are  equipped  with  such  teachers,  the  most 
difficult  problem  in  connection  with  reform  in  the  social 
activities  of  high  school  students  will  have  been  solved. 

A  Suggested  Plan  of  Administration. — Every  principal 
who  attempts  to  organize  or  reorganize  the  social  life  of 
a  school  must  use  a  great  deal  of  diplomacy.  He  will 
rarely  succeed  if  he  attempts  to  force  any  cut-and-dried 
programme  upon  either  his  pupils  or  his  teachers.  He 
must  begin  with  the  situation  as  it  is  in  his  particular 
school.  Local  traditions,  customs,  ideals,  and  personali- 
ties must  be  carefully  understood  and  considered.  One 
step  at  a  time  as  opportunity  offers  will  eventually  lead 
up  to  a  complete  ideal.  A  plan  that  will  work  success- 
fully in  one  school  may  not  be  good  in  another.  How- 
ever, suggestions  are  helpful,  and  for  this  reason  the 
following  plan  that  is  the  culmination  of  experiences  in 
different  schools  is  offered. 

Advisory  Boards. — As  has  been  mentioned  before,  the 
failure  of  the  fraternity  system  in  the  high  school  was 
largely,  if  not  entirely,  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  not 
guided  or  directed  into  right  paths.  All  other  social 
activities  are  in  the  same  danger  if  they  are  not  wisely 
supervised.  For  this  reason  every  society  that  receives 
recognition  should  have  its  "advisory"  board.  The 
word  "advisory"  is  used  rather  than  "control"  or  any 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITIES     417 

other  word,  because  it  is  intended  that  the  board  shall  act 
in  just  that  capacity.  The  board  should  consist  of  two 
teachers  who  are  chosen  by  the  pupils  and  approved  by 
the  principal,  and  of  two  or  more  students,  including  the 
president  and  secretary — according  to  the  size  of  the  or- 
ganization,— and  also  the  principal  as  an  ex  officio  mem- 
ber. The  teachers  on  the  board  are  not  to  act  as  cen- 
sors, but  as  leaders  who  are  interested  in  the  work  of  the 
society,  who  will  attend  its  meetings,  who  will  help  plan 
and  execute  its  work,  and  who,  by  their  wisdom  and 
experience,  will  lead  the  organization  successful ly  in  its 
undertakings.  In  this  way  there  can  be  no  possible 
clash  between  students  and  faculty,  and  harmonious  co- 
operation will  be  the  result. 

An  Advisory  Council. — The  teachers  who  act  upon  the 
various  advisory  boards  may  be  brought  together  by  the 
principal  as  an  advisory  council  to  consider  the  general 
problem  arising  from  the  social  activities  among  the  stu- 
dents. These  teachers  are  all  actually  in  the  work  of  the 
societies  and  are  best  able  to  assist  the  principal  in  estab- 
lishing the  social  policy  of  his  school.  This  council  may 
also  be  used  for  special  duties  or  in  the  consideration  of 
special  matters  relating  to  social  activities.  Where  hon- 
ors are  granted  for  exceptional  achievement  along  lines 
of  social  efficiency,  this  is  the  logical  body  to  pass  upon 
the  awarding  of  such  honors.  Each  school  will  in  many 
ways  find  such  a  council  a  force  for  good. 

A  Student  Council. — Under  the  plan  being  described 
the  students  who  are  members  of  the  various  advisory 
boards,  and  also  certain  students  chosen  at  large  to  rep- 
resent  those  who  may  not  be  members  of  any  society,  acl 
as  a  student  council.  Such  a  body  may  be  chosen  in 
different  ways,  varying  with  local  conditions.     In  any 


418  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

case,  it  will  be  found  a  very  useful  organization  in  con- 
nection with  the  school.  The  young  people  may  initiate 
many  movements  for  the  betterment  of  the  social  life 
of  the  school ;  they  can  bring  about  many  needed  reforms 
at  the  suggestion  of  the  principal;  they  can  make  investi- 
gations of  conditions  regarding  the  social  life  of  the  school 
or  the  community;  they  may  nominate  candidates  for 
special  honors  to  be  approved  by  the  advisory  council 
of  teachers;  in  fact,  they  can  be  made  a  most  potent 
factor  in  handling  difficult  problems  of  social  adminis- 
tration. This  may  be  considered  as  a  legitimate  recog- 
nition of  students'  rights.  The  experience  of  many  with 
student  self-government  schemes  is  that  they  are  more 
scheme  than  government.  It  is  not  wise  to  build  up 
machinery  just  for  the  sake  of  the  machine.  When  cer- 
tain conditions  arise  that  can  best  be  handled  by  the 
student  body  or  their  representatives,  it  is  time  then  to 
build  the  machinery  necessary  to  care  for  the  situation. 
For  ordinary  matters  of  general  student  concern  any 
council  which  fairly  represents  the  student  body  will 
prove  a  very  valuable  means  of  securing  the  good-will 
and  loyal  support  of  the  pupils  for  the  administration  of 
the  school,  as  well  as  an  effective  means  of  carrying  into 
effect  certain  reforms  in  the  social  life  of  the  school. 

Leadership  Clubs. — In  one  school  the  principal  di- 
vided the  boys  and  the  girls  of  the  student  council  into 
two  groups  or  clubs  known  as  Leadership  Clubs.  The 
principal  led  the  boys  and  the  lady  vice-principal  the 
girls.  They  met  once  in  two  weeks  to  discuss  in  an  inti- 
mate way  the  problems  of  high  school  life  and  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  leadership.  They  also  undertook 
certain  investigations  of  conditions  within  the  school, 
such  as  cheating,  gambling,  smoking,  etc.     For  one  sea- 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   SOCIAL    ACTIVITIES      U9 

son  Professor  Jenks's  little  book,  "Life  Problems  of 
High  School  Boys,"  was  taken  as  a  basis  of  study,  inves- 
tigation, and  discussion.  In  this  way  the  influence  of  the 
principals  was  spread  through  the  leaders  of  the  stu- 
dent activities  into  the  work  of  the  several  societies 
and  thus  into  the  very  spirit  of  the  student  body. 

Rules  and  Regulations. — On  general  principles  a  school 
should  have  as  few  rules  as  possible.  It  should  be  mutu- 
ally understood  that  the  pupil  knows  what  is  proper  and 
what  ought  to  be  done  without  being  constantly  re- 
minded, watched,  and  punished.  As  much  responsibility 
as  possible  should  be  placed  upon  the  pupils  for  their  own 
conduct.  When  rules  are  necessary  it  is  a  great  help  to 
invite  the  students  to  participate  in  their  formation  and 
execution.  Through  the  co-operation  of  the  student 
council  and  the  advisory  council,  rules  and  regulations 
regarding  the  administration  of  student  activities  may 
be  adopted  and  executed  very  satisfactorily.  The  fol- 
lowing code  now  in  use  in  a  city  high  school  may  prove 
suggestive. 

Rules  Governing  Student  Organizations 

I.  All  organizations  composed  wholly  or  in  part  of  high  school 
pupils  or  using  in  any  manner  the  name  of  the  high  school,  or 

in  any  way  connected  with  the High  School  of  —  — , 

shall  be  under  the  direction  of  an  advisory  board  composed  of 
two  members  of  the  faculty  chosen  by  the  society  and  approved 
by  the  principal;  of  an  equal  number  of  student  represents  ives 
of  the  individual  society,  including  its  president;  and  of  the  prin- 
cipal or  vice-principal  as  an  ex  officio  member. 

II.  This  advisory  board  shall  pass  upon  all  matters  involving 
the  general  policy  of  the  organization  and  shall  supervise  its 
work,  using  its  influence  in  such  a  way  as  to  avoid  all  objection 
able  features,  and  to  assist  the  members  in  developing  higher 
standards  of  social  efficiency.     The  faculty  members  of  the  sev- 


4L'0  the  modern  high  school 

cral  advisory  boards  shall  constitute  the  advisory  council  of  the 
school.  The  student  members  of  the  advisory  boards  shall  by 
virtue  of  this  office  become  members  of  the  student  council  of 
the  school. 

III.  No  pupil  shall  belong  to  more  than  one  organization 
under  the  same  classification  at  the  same  time. 

IV.  No  pupil  shall  be  permitted  to  hold  office  or  to  become  a 
candidate  for  office  who  is  not  eligible  under  the  following  inter- 
scholastic  athletic  rule:  namely,  that  he  or  she  shall  have  passed 
fourteen  hours  of  work  during  each  of  the  previous  two  semesters 
and  shall  be  carrying  fourteen  hours  of  work  satisfactorily  during 
the  semester  of  candidacy  for  office. 

V.  No  pupil  shall  be  permitted  to  hold  office  in  more  than 
one  organization  at  the  same  time,  nor  to  serve  in  more  than  one 
executive  capacity  at  the  same  time,  except  upon  the  special  ap- 
proval of  the  advisory  council. 

VI.  Rule  number  III  does  not  apply  to  such  musical  organi- 
zations or  other  activities  for  which  credit  is  given  toward  gradu- 
ation. 

VII.  Any  question  regarding  the  interpretation  of  these  rules 
shall  be  decided  by  the  advisory  council. 

The  Classification  of  Student  Activities. — Some  pupils 
are  socially  inclined,  while  others  are  very  retiring 
and  hard  to  draw  into  the  activities  that  would  do 
them  the  most  good.  For  both  classes  of  students  it  is 
quite  necessary  to  provide  that  the  socially  inclined  do 
not  overdo  this  tendency  to  the  detriment  of  their  studies, 
and  also  to  provide  ample  opportunity  for  the  social  de- 
velopment of  the  other  class  of  students.  Each  school 
will  find  it  necessary  to  work  out  its  own  classification,  as 
some  organizations  may  have  certain  characteristics  that 
would  place  them  in  one  group  rather  than  in  another. 
The  classification  outlined  may  be  found  helpful  to  those 
who  are  working  along  similar  lines. 

The  Academic  Group. — Most  common  among  the  ac- 
tivities that  may  be  classified  as  academic  are  the  literary 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   SOCIAL    ACTIVITIES      12] 

and  debating  societies.  These  organizations  arc  modern 
forms  of  the  lyceums  and  forums  of  earlier  generations. 
They  have  a  real  place  in  the  life  of  the  school  and  they 

offer  an  opportunity  for  the  free  exercise  of  literary  and 
forensic  ability  that  is  not  hampered  by  the  formality  of 
the  classroom.  Many  a  citizen  of  mature  years  will 
testify  that  of  all  his  school  experience  the  one  thing  thai 
did  most  for  his  present  success  in  life  was  the  training 
received  in  the  literary  or  debating  society.  Literary 
societies  are  under  various  names,  but  the  work  done  is 
usually  of  a  clearly  defined  type.  One  society  that  has 
had  a  successful  career  of  twenty-six  years  has  the  follow- 
ing numbers  on  its  weekly  programme: — an  original 
poem,  an  essay,  a  book  review,  a  recitation,  a  reading, 
and  an  extemporaneous  speech  on  some  current  topic. 
Each  member  must  appear  in  his  turn  in  each  of  these 
numbers  on  the  programme,  so  that  his  training  is  varied. 
At  the  close  of  the  programme  every  member  present  is 
called  upon  to  criticise  the  presentation  of  each  number. 
This  same  society  has  three  annual  events: — a  "feed" 
the  evening  before  Thanksgiving,  a  formal  banquet  on 
Washington's  Birthday,  and  an  "outing"  or  picnic  on 
Decoration  Day.  Usually  an  exhibition  programme  is 
given  to  the  public  some  time  during  the  winter  season. 

Debating  societies  that  have  proved  very  successful 
have  been  modelled  after  the  national  Senate  or  House  of 
Representatives.  One  such  organization  lias  now  been 
in  existence  for  about  twenty  years  and  has  established 
similar  societies  in  neighboring  cities  with  whom  annual 
debates  are  held. 

Dramatic  clubs  might  be  classified  under  the  heading 
of  the  "arts,"  but  in  the  school  from  which  this  grouping 
is  taken  there  is  a  department  of  public  speaking  and 


422  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

dramatics,  and  all  clubs  that  come  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  regular  department  are  considered  as  academic. 
Modern  high  schools  are  being  built  with  auditoriums  of 
large  seating  capacity,  but  few  of  them  are  equipped  with 
a  stage  that  is  adapted  to  efficient  dramatic  work.  The 
new  Central  High  School  in  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  has 
in  the  place  of  the  auditorium  a  completely  equipped 
theatre.  This  is  the  headquarters  of  the  department  of 
public  speaking.  Voice  culture,  declamation,  oratory, 
and  debate  lead  up  to  the  work  in  dramatic  art  as  one  of 
the  forms  of  interpreting  literature.  This  department 
has  proved  itself  of  great  value  to  the  pupils  entering  the 
work,  to  the  school  as  a  socializing  influence,  and  to  the 
community  at  large. 

In  each  department  are  usually  to  be  found  a  certain 
group  of  students  who  are  particularly  interested  in  the 
subject  studied  and  who  desire  to  go  beyond  the  work  of 
the  classroom.  Under  the  inspiration  of  some  enthusi- 
astic teacher  a  club  will  be  formed  such  as  a  German 
Club,  a  French  Club,  a  History  Club,  a  Travel  Club,  a 
Mathematics  Club,  a  Home  Economics  Club,  a  Fauna 
and  Flora  Club,  or  a  Wireless  Club,  etc.  These  organi- 
zations, while  having  an  academic  aim,  are  social  in  prac- 
tice and  serve  the  purpose  of  grouping  the  pupils  ac- 
cording to  natural  lines  of  common  interest. 

The  Arts  Group. — Under  this  rather  unsatisfactory 
heading  may  be  classified  the  organizations  that  bring 
together  those  who  are  more  or  less  talented  along  cer- 
tain artistic  lines.  This  would  include  the  musical  clubs; 
namely,  the  orchestra,  band,  Boys'  Glee-Club,  Girls'  Glee- 
Club,  and  Choral  Society.  Mandolin  and  banjo  clubs  are 
now  almost  obsolete.  For  successful  leadership  and  ad- 
ministration these  clubs  should  be  directed  by  the  teacher 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   SOCIAL    ACTIVITIES      123 

of  music  in  the  school  or  at  least  by  a  member  of  the 
faculty  when  one  can  be  provided.  Professional  leaders 
not  connected  with  the  school,  while  they  may  be  very 
good  musicians,  are  not  satisfactory  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  school  administration. 

Music  plays  a  most  important  part  in  the  social  life  of 
the  school.  The  weekly  assembly  means  much  more  as 
a  means  of  creating  a  spirit  of  unity,  of  inspiring  loyalty. 
and  of  establishing  a  real  school  atmosphere  when  it  has 
a  splendid  orchestra  or  uniformed  band,  glee-clubs,  or 
choral  society  to  lead  the  singing  of  patriotic  airs  or  of  a 
genuine  local  school  song. 

Other  organizations  that  are  classified  under  the  Arts 
Group  are  the  Camera  Club,  the  Sketching  Club,  and  the 
Arts  and  Crafts  Club.  These  societies  bring  together 
those  of  similar  tastes  and  abilities,  and  through  the  as- 
sociation of  kindred  spirits  lend  inspiration  to  the  work. 

The  Athletic  Group. — As  the  subject  of  athletics  is 
fully  treated  in  another  chapter  very  little  need  be  said 
here.  The  whole  school,  including  both  faculty  and  stu- 
dents, should  make  up  the  membership  in  the  athletic 
association.  Besides  the  usual  groups  whose  social  rela- 
tions are  very  close,  and  in  which  friendships  become 
very  strong,  such  as  the  football  team,  the  basket-ball 
team,  the  baseball  team,  and  the  track  team,  an  athletic 
honor  society,  composed  of  all  those  who  have  won  their 
"letters,"  has  proved  to  be  of  great  value  in  maintaining 
high  standards  among  those  interested  in  athletics. 
This  society  known  as  the  "Monogram  Club,"  or  by  any 
other  name  that  may  be  chosen,  necessarily  contains  the 
leading  athletes  in  the  school,  who  are  usually  the  boys 
of  greatest  influence  in  the  student  life.  To  organize 
these  young  men  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  ath- 


424  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

letic  interests  and  of  establishing  manly  ideals  in  the 
realm  of  sport  is  to  establish  a  power  for  good  in  the  stu- 
dent life  and  to  secure  real  help  to  the  administration  of 
the  school. 

The  Social  Group. — This  classification  may  seem 
superfluous.  The  failure  of  the  fraternity  system  is  in 
part  due  to  the  fact  that  its  only  aim  has  been  social 
exclusiveness  in  the  narrow  use  of  the  term.  No  school 
society  should  exist  without  a  larger,  better,  and  more 
practical  aim  than  getting  together  for  a  "social"  good 
time.  While  this  may  appear  harmless,  it  will  soon  wear 
itself  out  and  is  bound  to  degenerate  into  more  harmful 
practices.  However,  there  are  some  legitimate  organ- 
izations that  are  purely  social.  These  would  include 
the  class  organizations  commonly  called  senior,  junior, 
sophomore,  and  freshmen  societies.  Only  a  few  class 
meetings  may  be  held  in  large  schools  in  which  there  are 
a  number  of  smaller  organizations,  and  yet  these  meet- 
ings serve  a  real  purpose  in  developing  loyalty  and  social 
efficiency  in  the  school. 

General  School  Organizations. — By  this  division  in  the 
classification  it  is  intended  to  include  all  organizations 
or  organized  movements  that  are  not  to  be  found  above. 
First  among  these  would  be  the  editorial  staff  of  the 
school  paper.  It  is  considered  as  "general"  because  it 
should  represent  all  grades  in  the  school  and  both  faculty 
and  students.  Editors-in-chief  should  be  selected  by 
competition  or  because  of  excellence  in  that  special  line 
of  work.  The  organization  of  the  editors,  the  managers, 
and  the  representatives  from  the  several  classes  and  the 
faculty  will  form  a  society  that,  under  the  right  kind  of 
leadership,  can  do  much  to  mould  the  public  opinion  of 
the  school  and  of  the  homes  interested  in  the  school. 


ADMINISTRATION    OF    SOCIAL    ACTIV1TIKS      1-'.") 

The  administration   cannot  afford  to   lose  sighl  of   this 
powerful  factor. 

Under  this  same  classification  may  be  included  schol 
arship  honor  societies,  the  Bible-study  clubs  which  arc- 
being  promoted  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  \\ .  (  .  \. 
throughout  the  country,  and  general  civic  clubs.  Ann  >ng 
the  latter  is  one  organization  that  is  proving  very  popu- 
lar, called  the  Junior  Association  of  Commerce,  taking 
the  name  of  the  local  commercial  organization.  This 
club  is  affiliated  with  the  men's  club  of  the  city  and  has 
for  its  purpose  the  study  and  investigation  of  the  indus- 
trial, commercial,  and  civic  conditions  of  the  city.  The 
regular  programme  consists  of  a  business  meeting,  a  voca- 
tional address  by  some  man  prominent  in  the  industrial, 
business,  or  professional  world,  a  period  of  questions  and 
discussion,  and  usually  a  trip  of  investigation  to  the  place 
of  business  or  industry  described  by  the  speaker. 

Temporary  organizations  often  are  necessary  to  carry 
out  some  campaign,  celebration,  or  general  social  func- 
tion. In  order  that  the  rule  regarding  the  distribution 
of  offices  and  executive  positions  might  be  carried  out, 
such  organizations  are  classified  under  this  heading. 

Social  Efficiency  and  School  Records. — When  a  pupil 
leaves  school  there  is  usually  very  little  on  file  in  the 
way  of  a  permanent  record  except  the  percentages  gained 
in  certain  subjects.  This  really  tells  very  little  about  the 
ability  or  general  worth  of  the  pupil.  The  employer  who 
asks  for  a  recommendation  cares  very  little  whether  the 
pupil's  standing  in  history  was  eighty-five  per  cent  or 
ninety-one  per  cent.  What  he  usually  asks  is:  ''What  kind 
of  boy  is  he?"  Has  he  ambition  or  any  marked  ability? 
Is  he  honest,  industrious,  prompt,  and  loyal?  Has  he  ini- 
tiative, energy,  push?    Can  he  work  harmoniously  with 


426  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

others  and  can  he  lead?  Is  he  socially  efficient?  These 
are  the  important  qualifications  that  school  records  have 
failed  to  preserve.  A  card  system  is  quite  generally  used 
to-day  for  all  manner  of  records.  If  the  reverse  side  of 
the  scholarship  card  is  not  used,  it  can  be  put  to  very 
valuable  service  under  the  following  headings: — "Plans 
for  Future,"  "Special  Ability,"  "Vocational  and  Social 
Experience,"  and  "Character."  This  record  should  be 
made  at  the  close  of  each  semester  by  the  teacher  who 
has  been  in  charge  of  the  pupil.  Only  positive  facts 
should  be  recorded.  If  there  should  be  anything  that 
would  injure  the  reputation  or  future  prospects  of  the 
pupil  it  might  better  be  omitted.  Such  an  instance  may 
be  referred  to  by  the  remark  "see  Mr.  Blank,"  indicating 
the  teacher  who  personally  knows  of  the  facts  in  the  case. 
If  that  teacher  is  at  hand  when  reference  to  the  record 
is  needed  he  may  be  consulted,  but  if  not,  nothing  is  lost. 
Mistakes  of  youth  should  not  be  taken  too  seriously  in 
passing  judgment  upon  character.  School  records  are 
very  incomplete  if  they  do  not  afford  the  information 
necessary  to  enable  us  to  answer  the  positive  questions 
of  ability  and  character  suggested  above. 

Credit  toward  Graduation  for  Social  Efficiency. — In 
the  large  high  school  there  are  certain  offices  connected 
with  student  activities  that  require  so  much  time,  energy, 
and  special  ability  that  to  do  the  work  well  necessarily 
interferes  with  the  regular  requirements  of  the  curriculum. 
To  edit  a  school  paper  or  act  as  its  business  manager  not 
only  takes  a  large  amount  of  time  but  affords  a  rich  busi- 
ness experience  and  training  that  is  educationally  of  as 
much  value  as,  if  not  greater  than,  much  of  the  work  now 
credited  for  graduation.  To  represent  the  school  in  an 
interscholastic  debate  or  oratorical  contest  also  takes 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITIES      1-7 

time  from  the  regular  work  and  at  the  same  time  gives  a 
training  that  cannot  be  gained  from  the  credited  studies. 
The  same  can  be  said  of  well-conducted  musical  organi- 
zations and  of  other  activities.  Many  schools  are  grant 
ing  certain  credits  toward  graduation  for  such  work  as  is 
considered  worthy  of  recognition  by  the  school  author- 
ities. About  as  satisfactory  a  plan  as  any  to  be  found 
is  to  make  certain  allowances  of  time  and  material  in 
those  subjects  which  deal  most  directly  with  the  nature 
of  the  " outside''  or  ''social"  work.  As  an  illustration: 
pupils  acting  as  editors-in-chief  of  the  school  paper,  rep- 
resenting the  school  in  an  interscholastic  debate  or  orator- 
ical contest,  or  taking  a  leading  part  in  a  dramatic  pro- 
duction during  a  given  semester  may  be  excused  from  a 
certain  portion  of  the  work  in  English;  and  the  character 
of  the  outside  work  done  may  be  graded  and  credited  as 
a  part  of  that  subject.  Those  students  who  undertake 
the  business  management  of  the  school  paper  or  the 
athletic  teams  in  large  schools  are  handling  large  sums  of 
money  and  are  getting  a  business  experience  that  cannot 
be  taught  in  a  class  in  bookkeeping.  Such  work  under 
the  supervision  of  the  head  of  the  commercial  department 
could  be  passed  upon  and  credited  under  that  heading. 
Faithful  and  proficient  service  in  an  orchestra  or  other 
musical  organization  is  often  deemed  worthy  of  similar 
recognition.  If  there  is  a  department  of  music  in  the 
school,  the  organizations  are  considered  a  regular  part  of 
the  course  and  are  credited  as  such.  The  same  can  be 
said  of  athletic  work.  When  the  school  is  equipped  with 
a  gymnasium  and  has  a  physical  instructor,  work  done 
upon  the  teams  may  be  taken  into  account  in  crediting 
the  work  in  physical  training.  More  and  more  as  the 
social  activities  of  students  are  brought  under  the  direc- 


428  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

tion  of  expert  faculty  leaders,  and  as  the  demand  for 
social  efficiency  as  a  product  of  the  high  school  is  ap- 
preciated, proper  standards  of  efficiency  and  of  educa- 
tional values  in  terms  of  credit  hours  will  be  estab- 
lished. 

Conclusion. — Schoolmen  are  evidently  more  deeply 
interested  in  the  social  development  of  adolescent  boys 
and  girls  than  they  have  ever  been  before.  The  social 
demands  of  modern  business,  of  industry,  and  of  profes- 
sional life  are  pointing  out  to  educators  certain  essential 
social  qualifications  for  successful  entrance  upon  these 
fields  of  endeavor.  The  social  spirit  of  the  age  is  reflected 
in  the  student  life  and  it  has  introduced  new  problems 
that  schoolmen  are  called  upon  to  solve.  This  obliga- 
tion can  no  longer  be  ignored  nor  wilfully  pushed  aside. 
It  must  be  faced  squarely  as  an  educational  question.  In 
spite  of  traditional  ideals  regarding  the  purpose  of  the 
high  school  and  of  our  theories  regarding  the  responsibil- 
ities of  the  home,  the  church,  and  the  community  for  the 
social  training  of  youth,  the  fact  remains  that  the  prob- 
lem of  guiding  and  directing  the  social  activities  of  high 
school  students  is  one  for  the  school  definitely  to  face. 
Those  who  have  the  responsibility  of  organizing  and  man- 
aging a  modern  high  school  are  compelled  to  accept  the 
administration  of  the  social  activities  among  students  as 
a  legitimate  and  regular  function  of  the  office  and  one 
full  of  possibilities  for  education  and  character  making. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

HIGH  SCHOOL  ATHLETICS  AND   GYMNASTICS  AS  AN 

EXPRESSION   OF  THE   CORPORATE  LIFE  OF 

THE  HIGH   SCHOOL 

James  Naismith,  M.D. 

PROFESSOR    OF    PHYSICAL   EDUCATION    AND     DIRECTOR    OF    HEALTH    AND 
PHYSICAL    EDUCATION,   UNIVERSITY   OF   KANSAS 

The  Broad  Setting  of  Organized  Athletics  in  the  Health 
Movement  and  in  School  Administration. — The  agencies 
which  extended  and  varied  experience  has  shown  to  bet- 
ter the  health  of  school  children,  safeguard  them  from 
disease,  render  them  healthier,  happier,  and  more  vigor- 
ous, and  to  insure  for  them  such  physical  and  mental 
vitality  as  will  best  enable  them  to  take  full  advantage 
of  the  free  education  offered  by  the  State  are  the  follow- 
ing as  enumerated  by  Leonard  P.  Ay  res: 

i.  Medical  inspection  for  preventing  the  spread  of  contagious 
disease;  and  for  the  discovery  and  cure  of  remediable 
physical  defects; 

2.  Dental  inspection  for  the  purpose  of  securing  sound  teeth 

among  school  children; 

3.  School  nurses,  who  work  with  doctors,  teachers,  and  parents 

to  improve  the  health  of  the  children; 

4.  Open-air  schools,  for  giving  to  the  physically  weak  such  ad- 

vantages of  pure  air,  good  food,  and  warm  sunshine  as 
may  enable  them  to  pursue  their  studies  while  regaining 
their  physical  vigor; 

429 


430  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

5.  Special  classes  for  the  physically  handicapped  and  mentally 

exceptional  in  which  children  may  receive  the  care  and 
instruction  fitted  to  their  needs; 

6.  School  gardens,  which  serve  as  nature-study  laboratories, 

where  education  and  recreation  go  hand  in  hand,  and 
increased  knowledge  is  accompanied  by  increased  bodily 
efficiency; 

7.  School  playgrounds,  which  afford  space,  facilities,  opportu- 

nity, and  incentive  for  the  expression  of  play  instincts  and 
impulses; 

8.  Organized  athletics,  which  aid  in  physical  development,  and 

afford  training  in  alertness,  intense  application,  vigorous 
exertion,  loyalty,  obedience  to  law  and  order,  self-control, 
self-sacrifice,  and  respect  for  the  rights  of  others; 

9.  All  adjuncts  of  better  sanitation  in  schoolhouses,  such  as  sani- 

tary drinking  cups  and  fountains,  systems  of  vacuum  clean- 
ing, improved  systems  of  lighting,  heating,  and  ventila- 
tion. 

"  The  health  movement  in  our  public  schools  has  been 
transformed  during  the  past  decade  from  a  merely  nega- 
tive movement,  having  as  an  object  the  avoidance  of 
disease,  to  a  splendidly  positive  movement,  having  as  its 
aim  the  development  of  vitality.  We  desire  for  the  youth 
of  the  future  schools  in  which  health  instead  of  disease 
will  be  contagious,  in  which  the  playground  will  be  as 
important  as  the  book,  and  where  pure  water,  pure  air, 
and  abundant  sunshine  will  be  rights  and  not  privileges. 
In  these  schools  the  physical,  the  mental,  and  the  moral 
will  be  developed  together  and  not  separately;  the  child 
will  live  not  only  in  healthy  surroundings,  but  in  sur- 
roundings where  he  will  acquire  habits  of  health  which 
will  be  lifelong." 

Definition  and  Aims. — Physical  education  is  that  di- 
rection of  motor  activity  by  means  of  which  we  develop 
indirectly  the  mind  in  so  far  as  it  directs,  the  character 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  431 

in  so  far  as  it  controls  the  physical  nature;  and  directly 
the  body,  its  structure,  functions,  and  powers.  There 
are  two  contending  aims  of  physical  activity.  One  seeks 
the  recreation,  education,  and  development  of  the  indi- 
vidual; the  other  seeks  the  entertainment  and  applause 
of  the  spectators.  Each  has  its  proper  place  and  should 
be  appreciated  as  a  means  for  the  accomplishment  of  cer- 
tain ends.  Each  should  be  given  sufficient  but  not  un- 
due and  never  exclusive  prominence.  Each  should  have 
its  proper  place  in  the  course  of  development  laid  out  for 
the  student.  A  just  balance  of  emphasis  and  a  wise 
choice  of  the  means  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  ends 
will  make  a  course  in  physical  education  eminently  suc- 
cessful ;  while  a  neglect  of  either  will  mean  that  the  course 
will  neither  reflect  credit  on  the  school  nor  will  it  achieve 
the  results  which  should  be  expected.  The  spectacular 
type  aims  at  popularity  for  the  contestant,  the  coach,  and 
the  school;  the  developmental  aims  at  the  good  of  the 
individual.  One  seeks  the  applause  of  the  spectators,  the 
other  the  reward  of  a  hard-earned  ''well  done";  one  sub- 
ordinates the  individual's  welfare  to  the  gate  receipts, 
the  other  considers  the  individual  of  greater  importance; 
one  helps  the  student  in  order  to  magnify  the  sport, 
the  other  uses  the  sport  to  help  the  student;  one  makes 
the  sport  the  end  and  the  student  the  means,  the  other 
makes  the  sport  the  means  and  the  student  the  end. 

Forms  of  Motor  Activity. — There  are  three  forms  of 
motor  activity,  distinguished  by  the  motive  that  leads  to 
action.  Work  is  an  activity  which  has  for  its  incentive 
the  accomplishing  of  some  object  without  reference  to 
the  effect  upon  the  individual;  exercise  is  an  activity 
which  has  for  its  incentive  the  development  of  the  indi- 
vidual in  physique,  reflex  ability,  and  moral  attributes; 


432  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

play  is  a  motor  response  to  an  inner  desire  for  activity. 
Work  is  objective,  exercise  is  subjective,  and  play  is  in- 
stinctive. Muscular  activity  may  belong  to  any  one  of 
these  forms.  We  get  the  same  muscular  development 
regardless  of  the  motive.  However,  associated  with  play 
is  the  joyous  attitude  which  is  beneficial,  while  with  work 
may  be  associated  an  antagonistic  attitude  which  robs 
the  individual  of  the  recreative  features.  Some  qualities 
are  developed  mainly  in  play,  while  others  are  developed 
only  when  there  is  an  ulterior  motive  to  be  attained.  In 
play  we  follow  the  instincts  and  when  we  have  had 
enough  we  promptly  stop;  but  in  work  we  push  ourselves 
beyond  that  point,  thereby  gaining  concentration  and 
perseverance.  To  get  the  best  results,  it  is  necessary  to 
have  in  proper  proportions  all  three  forms,  adapted,  as 
the  case  may  be,  to  the  needs  of  the  individual  concerned 
always  rather  than  to  the  interests  of  the  coach  or  the 
school. 

Value  of  Muscular  Activities. — Hygienic. — The  hy- 
gienic value  of  exercise  is  of  primary  importance,  because 
health  is  fundamental  to  all  other  kinds  of  activity; 
through  all  previous  stages  of  evolution  muscular  activ- 
ity has  been  the  dominant  factor.  In  the  course  of  civi- 
lization we  have  made  the  forces  of  nature  do  our  motor 
work,  and  we  depend  more  and  more  on  the  activities  of 
the  mind  to  relieve  us  of  motor  activity.  Thus  we  tend 
to  neglect  that  part  of  our  organism  by  which  we  reached 
our  present  status.  A  too  sudden  change  from  muscular 
activity  to  one  of  inaction  gives  an  opportunity  for  all 
manner  of  abnormal  conditions  to  arise.  This  is  true  of 
the  whole  race  as  well  as  of  the  individual.  To-day  we 
compel  our  children  to  spend  in  school  the  hours  which 
were  formerly  spent  in  developing  a  good,  strong  phy- 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  433 

sique,  taking  no  pains  to  preserve  the  proper  balance  of 
growth  between  the  physical  and  the  intellectual.  We 
attempt  to  transfer  our  children  from  the  era  of  muscular 
activity  to  that  of  mental  concentration  without  the  care 
that  we  should  give  a  transplanted  garden  plant.  At 
the  time  of  life  when  youth  is  by  nature  and  instincts 
developing  the  body  and  its  powers,  we  keep  him  in  a 
state  of  muscular  inactivity  while  we  mould  his  mind  by 
a  narrow  sort  of  mental  routine.  On  the  playground,  if 
indeed  we  give  him  that  much,  we  leave  him  without 
guidance  and  grant  him  the  widest  choice,  if  there  be  any, 
of  the  means  of  development.  We  induce  a  habit  of  in- 
activity in  youth  which  later  costs  us  time  and  effort  to 
correct  in  order  that  he  may  eke  out  a  life  of  pain  and 
suffering.  What  we  need  is  a  habit  of  exercise  in  youth 
which  is  not  too  great  a  tax  on  the  vitality  at  the  time, 
and  one  that  will  stay  with  us  later  in  life,  or  a  wise 
choice  in  kind  and  a  moderate  amount  of  muscular  activ- 
ity in  youth  which  will  give  us  the  power  and  the  incli- 
nation to  indulge  in  recreation  activities  throughout  life. 

All  our  life  mental  efficiency  is  dependent  on  physical 
integrity,  and  it  is  just  as  necessary  to  have  a  ''health 
conscience"  as  it  is  to  have  a  moral  conscience.  Indeed, 
it  is  impossible  to  have  the  latter  without  the  former. 
In  addition  to  the  mental,  the  emotional  side  of  man 
is  dependent  on  health.  Good  health  is  accompanied 
with  an  even  temper,  a  poise,  and  a  consideration  for 
others  that  makes  human  association  a  pleasure;  while 
lack  of  health  is  a  source  of  family  and  social  discomfort. 

A  most  important  phase  of  the  health  question  is  the 
fact  that  the  next  generation  is  dependent  on  the  physi- 
cal health  and  vigor  of  this  one,  not  only  for  actual  exis- 
tence but  also  for  the  normal  powers  and  pleasures  of  life. 


434  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

We  have  no  more  right  to  rob  this  next  generation  of  a 
good  body  and  a  healthy  heritage  than  we  have  to  rob 
it  of  its  wealth.  The  community  insists,  by  means  of 
laws  and  truant  officers,  that  the  youth  spend  so  many 
hours  per  week  in  developing  his  mind,  while  we  have 
neither  laws  nor  officers  to  compel  our  boards  of  educa- 
tion, our  principals,  and  our  teachers  to  give  a  develop- 
ment to  the  student's  body,  which  is  fundamental  to  all 
other  forms  and  without  which  all  other  development  is 
void.  Therefore,  no  school  system  is  complete  without 
a  systematic  course  of  physical  education  nor  is  any 
course  complete  without  health  as  a  fundamental  ele- 
ment of  it. 

Recreative  Value. — In  recreation  we  set  to  work  the  re- 
building processes.  We  change  the  activities  from  the 
thought  centres  to  the  reflex  centres,  and  the  greater  the 
reflex  ability  of  the  individual  the  more  easy  is  recre- 
ation. We  also  re-establish  the  equilibrium  of  the  blood 
supply.  In  tense  application  to  an  intellectual  subject, 
the  blood  is  carried  to  the  brain  away  from  the  motor 
organs.  In  play  this  is  reversed  and  the  normal  state  is 
restored.  Recreation,  likewise,  gives  vent  to  the  joyous 
side  of  life.  During  study  the  feelings  are  restrained 
while  the  mind  is  busy.  In  play  the  feelings  are  free 
to  express  themselves  in  response  to  immediate  sur- 
roundings. Competition  in  games  is  an  incentive  which 
relieves  the  voluntary  centres  occupied  in  producing 
muscular  activity. 

Social  Value. — The  social  value  of  physical  education 
is  illustrated  when  it  is  seen  that  on  the  athletic  field 
every  one  finds  his  true  level.  The  one  who  will  perfect 
himself  physically  for  the  good  of  the  institution  is  re- 
spected, regardless  of  his  ancestry  or  his  financial  stand- 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  435 

ing.  Mere  manhood  is  recognized,  while  lack  of  it  is 
sufficient  to  bar  a  student  from  the  honors  of  his  fellows. 
The  leader  on  the  field  is  chosen  for  his  inherent  qualities, 
even  though  some  other  may  have  been  given  the  nom- 
inal post  of  honor.  True  leadership  is  recognized  and 
followed  in  all  games  of  physical  skill  and  prowess.  In 
athletics  the  individual  is  secondary  to  the  organization 
and  the  individual  does  the  part  assigned  to  him.  Out 
of  the  proper  number  of  units  an  efficient  organization  is 
evolved.  Furthermore,  all  games  are  governed  by  sets 
of  rules  formulated  in  order  that  the  player  may  know 
the  rights  of  others  as  well  as  his  own,  and  also  the  limits 
beyond  which  he  may  not  go,  the  overstepping  of  which 
incurs  a  penalty.  True  sportsmanship  is  a  recognition 
of  the  rights  of  others  and  our  own  in  playing  the  game 
in  accordance  with  these  fundamental  principles.  With 
the  proper  guidance  the  spirit  of  fair  play  and  square  deal 
is  inculcated. 

Educational  Value. — The  educational  value  of  physical 
education  is  seen  when  we  recognize  the  fact  that  it  de- 
velops the  reflexes,  thus  leaving  the  volitional  part  of  the 
mind  to  do  more  effective  work  of  a  different  order. 
Thus  the  student  learns  how  to  get  recreation.  The 
adult  who  attempts  to  learn  a  game  must  first  pass 
through  a  period  of  strain,  because  all  reflexes  are  first 
voluntary.  It  is  a  strain  on  his  judgment  to  gain  con- 
trol of  a  new  reflex.  Many  men  are  unable  to  stand  the 
strain  of  life  because  they  have  never  learned  how  to 
play,  and  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  become  expert  in 
later  years.  Consequently,  they  are  unable  to  indulge  in 
proper  recreation.  Youth,  especially  high  school  age, 
is  the  time  to  gain  control  of  all  the  reflexes  that  we 
are  to  use  in  our  after-life.     Failure  to  do  so  at  this  time 


436  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

frequently  means  that  we  are  to  go  through  life  without 
that  power.  Again,  it  develops  physical  judgment  or 
the  ability  to  estimate  the  motion  of  moving  objects  and 
to  accommodate  ourselves  to  them.  This  ability  en- 
ables one  to  make  his  way  through  a  crowd  without  con- 
fusion or  nervous  strain  and  to  estimate  the  amount  of 
energy  needed  to  accomplish  a  certain  result  without 
waste  of  effort.  It  develops  also  intensity  and  con- 
centration without  undue  strain.  The  expert  is  able 
to  keep  his  mind  on  the  object  in  hand,  while  one  who 
cannot  do  this  is  a  failure.  It  is  this  attribute  that  is 
developed  by  successful  participation  in  competitive 
contests.  Exercise  and  training,  furthermore,  develop 
perseverance.  It  is  not  always  he  who  gets  his  blow  in 
first  who  wins  out.  It  is  always  he  who  gets  his  blow  in 
last.  The  ability  to  continue  in  a  course  and  to  compel 
conditions  to  yield  to  our  will  is  of  inestimable  value  in 
every  phase  of  life.  This  is  par  excellence  the  aim  of 
physical  education.  Cases  are  common  where  men  have 
been  chosen  for  difficult  positions  because  of  this  attri- 
bute shown  and  developed  in  sport.  A  football  guard 
said  that  the  game  had  given  him  the  stamina  to  with- 
stand homesickness  and  discouragements  and  to  con- 
tinue his  work  to  a  successful  issue,  and,  furthermore, 
that  it  was  the  only  part  of  his  education  that  had 
dealt  directly  with  that  necessary  factor  in  life. 

Character  Value. — By  character  we  mean  the  kind  of 
response  which  a  man  makes  to  the  opportunities  which 
are  presented  to  him.  There  are  two  forms  of  response, 
the  voluntary  and  the  reflex.  The  voluntary  response 
comes  after  deliberation,  when  the  individual  has  had 
time  to  make  his  judgment,  and  is  apt  to  be  correct. 
These  responses,  however,  are  not  frequent.     The  ma- 


HIGH   SCHOOL  ATHLETICS  437 

jority  of  our  responses  are  reflex,  made  without  delibera- 
tion, dependent  on  the  activities  of  our  past  life.  The 
kind  of  reflex  response  that  we  make  to  a  condition  is 
determined  by  the  way  in  which  we  have  responded  to 
similar  conditions  in  the  past.  The  boy  who  has  high 
ideals  and  has  lived  up  to  them  on  the  playground  will 
let  these  same  ideals  control  his  relations  in  the  business 
world.  But  no  matter  how  high  the  ideals  that  have 
been  presented  to  a  youth  may  have  been,  if  he  forgets 
them  on  the  playground  he  will  forget  them  in  after-life 
in  his  business  and  social  relations. 

Athletics  alone  will  not  develop  these  ideals,  but  they 
must  be  instilled  by  some  one  who  has  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  the  student  and  who  has  the  power  to  see 
that  fair  means  are  recognized  and  employed  by  both 
teams.  Thus  we  see  that  the  athletic  field  can  be  the 
laboratory  in  which  ethics  may  be  taught  and  practised. 
The  athlete,  furthermore,  learns  to  appreciate  a  clean 
body,  one  that  is  under  his  control  all  the  time.  The 
man  who  indulges  in  habits  which  weaken  his  efficiency 
may  last  for  a  short  time,  but  he  is  soon  relegated  to 
the  side-lines  and  his  native  ability,  instead  of  being 
a  source  of  pride  and  honor,  becomes  a  subject  of  re- 
proach because  he  is  unable  to  use  it  for  the  good  of  his 
organization.  It  is  not  play  but  the  strenuous  work 
aspect  of  athletics  that  tests  and  develops  a  student's 
strength  of  character  and  moulds  his  nature  into  sterner 
stuff. 

In  athletics,  too,  a  man  must  learn  to  control  his  entire 
self,  not  his  muscular  self  alone  but  also  his  emotional 
or  temperamental  self.  The  individual  who  constantly 
loses  his  temper  is  a  handicap  to  his  team.  Not  only 
does  he  fail  to  do  his  best  because  of  inattention  to  the 


438  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

object  in  hand  but  he  frequently  brings  punishment  and 
disgrace  to  his  team.  The  hot-headed  and  impetuous  are 
taught  to  restrain  themselves,  while  the  lethargic  and 
phlegmatic  are  often  aroused  to  the  necessary  pitch  for 
self-assertion  and  self-discovery.  Notable  examples  of 
this  may  be  found  on  nearly  every  football  team.  For 
example,  a  player  on  a  Kansas  team  who  was  noted  and 
named  for  his  fighting  propensities  made  the  statement 
at  the  beginning  of  his  senior  year  that  he  would  not 
"slug"  once  during  the  entire  season.  This  he  fulfilled 
to  the  letter,  putting  the  energy  that  he  formerly  wasted 
on  watching  for  an  opportunity  to  get  even  with  his  oppo- 
nent into  playing  the  game.  During  the  season  he  cov- 
ered himself  with  glory  for  his  playing  ability.  He  was 
not  a  poorer  player  but  a  better  after  learning  to  control 
and  direct  his  temper. 

Self-sacrifice  is  one  of  the  noble  qualities  of  character 
which  is  developed  by  many  forms  of  athletics.  In 
games  that  require  team-work,  when  the  choice  comes  to 
one  between  conflicting  interests  of  the  team  and  self, 
the  latter  must  be  made  subordinate.  The  thing  to 
be  done  must  be  done  in  accordance  with  the  plans  and 
for  the  sake  of  the  organization.  The  individual  who 
sacrifices  the  team  for  self  is  automatically  and  sum- 
marily ostracized.  He  has  failed  to  meet  the  crucial 
test. 

The  Place  of  Physical  Education  in  the  School  Pro- 
gramme.— If  physical  education  performs  such  important 
functions  in  the  development  of  the  individual,  can  we 
relegate  its  operation  to  the  few  who  care  to  take  part, 
neglecting  all  the  mass  of  the  students?  If  it  is  good 
for  the  few  who  are  expert  it  is  much  better  for  the  many 
who  need  the  development.     It  is  an  integral  function  of 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  439 

the  school  and  should  be  so  connected  and  administered. 
If  it  is  left  to  the  initiative  and  caprice  of  the  student  it 
will  be  neglected  by  the  ones  who  need  it  and  overdone 
by  those  who  are  already  well  developed.  Like  children 
playing  with  a  sharp  knife,  they  may  be  benefited  in 
their  power  to  use  it  but  may  also  be  sadly  disfigured  in 
the  process  of  learning.  Physical  education  may  be  a 
great  benefit  or  a  great  injury  to  the  participant  accord- 
ing as  it  is  wisely  or  carelessly  administered. 

The  responsibility  rests  with  the  school  board  to  see 
that  it  is  put  on  the  proper  basis  of  financial  support. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  superintendent,  or  the  principal,  to 
put  it  before  the  board  in  its  true  light  as  a  fundamental 
educational  issue.  It  can  no  longer  be  looked  on  as  a 
necessary  evil,  but  must  be  dovetailed  into  the  other 
dominant  work  of  the  school  and  be  accepted  as  quite  on 
a  par  with  intellectual  exercises.  It  is  now  not  so  much 
a  neglected  subject  which  has  been  rediscovered,  as  a  new 
need  brought  about  by  the  change  in  our  civilization. 
The  boy  who  works  gets  a  certain  amount  of  muscular 
development.  If  he  is  a  normal  boy  his  instincts  lead 
him  to  play  whenever  the  opportunity  offers.  On  the 
farm  or  in  the  small  town  there  is  a  certain  amount  of 
physical  activity  which  he  necessarily  gets,  but  with 
this  he  should  have  the  educative  benefits  of  games.  The 
school  system  which  does  not  provide  play  for  the  child 
is  depriving  it  of  that  which  is  natural  and  instinctive. 
Such  a  policy  is  a  crime  against  nature  and  one  for  which 
as  a  nation  we  shall  have  to  pay  in  enfeebled  constitu- 
tions and  inefficient  men  and  women.  Again,  we  have 
been  too  long  drearily  endeavoring  to  find  some  way  of  de- 
veloping the  ethical  standards  and  some  practical  way  in 
which  the  standards  could  be  applied.     All  the  time  the 


440  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

very  best  laboratory  for  this  ethical  ministration  has  been 
pushed  aside  or  overlooked.  The  sooner  we  recognize 
the  value  of  sport  in  the  full  development  of  the  indi- 
vidual the  sooner  shall  we  begin  to  make  our  educational 
system  efficient. 

Less  than  fifteen  years  ago  the  high  school  athletes 
who  came  to  college  represented  the  least-developed 
group,  so  far  as  true  sportsmanship  was  concerned, 
chiefly  because  they  had  been  accustomed  to  playing  a 
game  unrestrained  and  without  co-operation.  All  sorts 
of  tricks  were  used  to  win  a  contest,  such  as  importing 
players,  choosing  biassed  officials,  and  resorting  to  unfair 
tactics  in  general.  It  was  no  unusual  thing  to  have  the 
game  end  in  a  fight  in  which  players  and  spectators  par- 
ticipated. To-day  our  athletes  from  the  high  schools 
represent  the  best  sportsmanship  possible.  To-day  a 
track  meet  in  which  there  are  hundreds  of  contestants 
may  be  run  off  without  a  hitch  or  a  dispute,  even  though 
there  are  always  plenty  of  opportunities  for  the  partici- 
pants to  feel  that  they  have  not  received  all  that  was 
their  due.  The  coaches  and  the  managers  attempt  to 
get  only  impartial  officials  and  trust  them  to  give  a 
square  deal.  To-day  men  of  opposing  teams  applaud 
a  good  play  of  their  opponents,  a  thing  that  was  un- 
known when  the  games  were  regulated  by  the  "sports" 
of  the  town.  Now  the  presence  of  the  principal  and 
other  teachers  lends  a  dignity  and  an  educational  sanc- 
tion to  the  events. 

Conduct  of  Sports. — Something  should  be  said  with  ref- 
erence to  the  methods  of  conducting  the  work  of  physical 
education,  especially  athletics.  As  there  are  two  phases 
of  the  work,  so  there  are  two  factors  to  be  considered 
in  the  plans  for  administering  it.     When  the  question  is 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  441 

one  of  the  development  of  the  individual,  the  only  com- 
petent authority  is  the  one  who  understands  the  struc- 
ture and  the  functions  of  the  body  as  well  as  the  nature 
of  the  exercises.  When  we  look  at  exercise  as  develop- 
ing the  individual,  the  person  in  charge  cannot  have  too 
much  knowledge  of  the  whole  subject,  and  he  should  have 
the  power  to  direct  the  student  for  his  good.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  there  are  contests  between  schools  the 
competition  must  necessarily  be  between  students,  and 
it  is  well  that  they  should  have  some  voice  in  the  admin- 
istration of  affairs.  There  are  several  things  that  the 
students  can  do  better  than  any  other  person,  and  indeed, 
if  they  do  not  do  these  things  they  must  remain  undone. 
No  influence  is  so  strong  as  student  sentiment,  and  once 
it  is  brought  to  bear  on  any  phase  of  school  life  it  has 
great  weight.  There  are  certain  phases  of  the  work  that 
can  best  be  done  by  some  one  who  has  had  experience  and 
who  is  permanently  connected  with  the  school.  Thus  the 
management  of  games  can  best  be  done  by  a  faculty 
member,  provided  his  knowledge  of  the  subject  is  suffi- 
cient to  keep  him  from  making  mistakes. 

In  scheduling  games,  it  is  necessary  to  look  forward  as 
well  as  backward,  and  arrange  them  with  a  view  to  the 
succeeding  years.  Only  a  permanent  manager  can  do 
this  well.  Again,  some  phases  of  the  work  can  best  be 
done  by  students  themselves.  Preceding  every  great 
contest  there  are  days  and  weeks  of  hard,  grinding  work, 
and  the  student  can  call  out  the  enthusiasm  that  is  neces- 
sary to  carry  the  candidates  through  the  hard  grind.  A 
combination  of  the  two  is  necessary  for  the  proper  en- 
forcement of  eligibility  rules,  for  it  is  necessary  to  have 
a  view  from  both  angles. 

Accordingly,  there  are  the  three  methods  in  vogue  in 


442  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

different  institutions:  viz.,  faculty  control,  where  some 
member  of  that  body  manages  the  whole  subject;  second, 
where  the  students  do  all  the  managing;  and  third,  where 
there  is  a  combination  of  the  two.  The  ideal  is  for  the 
faculty  to  be  responsible  for  the  financial  arrangements, 
the  choice  of  officials,  and  arrangement  of  schedules;  a 
combined  faculty  and  student  committee  to  take  charge 
of  the  eligibility,  and  a  student  committee  to  be  responsi- 
ble for  the  energy  and  enthusiasm  that  are  necessary  for 
the  best  results.  A  student  sentiment  can  get  men  out 
who  are  careless,  indifferent,  or  ineligible,  while  no 
amount  of  coaxing  from  the  manager  and  coach  would 
have  the  same  result.  Faculty  management  is  progres- 
sive and  economical,  while  student  discipline  is  whole- 
some and  thorough  if  undertaken  in  the  right  spirit. 
When  the  ineligibility  of  a  player  is  viewed  as  a  breach 
of  loyalty  to  the  institution,  on  the  part  of  the  student 
rather  than  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  faculty  to  kill 
the  sport,  the  athletic  tone  of  the  school  becomes  a 
purposeful  constructive  factor  in  the  life  of  the  institu- 
tion. A  principal  with  the  true  ideals  of  sportsmanship, 
if  he  has  the  backing  of  his  teachers  and  the  sympathy 
of  his  boys,  can  set  a  high  standard  of  sportsmanship  and 
have  his  students  proud  to  live  up  to  that  ideal. 

The  sentiment  of  the  main  body  of  students  is  always 
for  the  best,  but  in  every  institution  there  are  a  few  in- 
dividuals who  think  that  they  represent  the  whole  school 
in  their  views,  but  who  simply  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
the  sporting  element  of  the  town.  There  are  always 
enough  good,  sensible  boys  and  girls  in  the  institution 
who  can  mould  public  opinion  if  they  are  organized.  If 
the  principal  will  organize  these  he  can  accomplish  won- 
ders.    If  he  fails  to  set  the  ideals  high  enough,  or  fails  to 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  443 

have  his  boys  live  up  to  them,  he  fails  in  his  social  duty 
to  the  highest  interest  of  his  school  and  his  students  in- 
dividually. 

Legitimate  Aims  of  High  School  Athletics. — These 
might  be  classified  as  follows:  first,  to  benefit  the  indi- 
vidual with  reference  to  his  health,  his  education,  and  his 
morals,  and,  second,  to  advertise  the  school.  In  doing  this 
the  loyalty  of  the  student  is  exercised  and  his  interest  in 
the  school  is  increased.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  no 
right  to  demand  too  much  from  the  student  in  the  way 
of  exalting  the  school,  unless  he  himself  is  thereby  bene- 
fited. If  in  order  to  glorify  the  school  he  must  sacrifice 
health,  education,  or  opportunity;  if  he  must  resort  to 
trickery  or  unfair  tactics,  it  is  better  that  the  school  go 
without  the  glory.  The  school  is  made  for  the  student, 
not  the  student  for  the  school.  A  third  aim  is  to  furnish 
an  opportunity  for  comparing  one  student  with  another, 
or  one  school  with  another.  Such  a  comparison  stimu- 
lates better  work  and  widens  the  view  of  life.  While  it 
may  be  true  that  athletics  are  not  the  highest  form  of 
education,  yet  they  furnish  the  most  practical  form  for 
the  purpose  of  comparison,  and  provide  a  good  criterion 
of  earnestness  and  enthusiasm  as  well  as  of  sportsman- 
ship. 

The  high  school  student  is  in  the  developing  stage  and 
needs  the  most  careful  attention,  both  physically  and  in 
the  interests  of  his  emotions.  If  the  coach  does  not  un- 
derstand this  he  will  condemn  the  contestant  as  being  a 
quitter  and  a  coward,  whereas  the  fault  may  lie  in  nature's 
way  of  growth.  At  this  time  many  boys  are  disheart- 
ened and  cease  to  attempt  any  form  of  athletics.  If  this 
had  been  noted  and  the  period  safeguarded,  he  would 
have  had  no  serious  misgivings  about  his  ability.     This  is 


444  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

true  of  the  runs,  especially  the  long  distance.  These 
races  depend  more  on  condition  than  on  skill,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  keep  up  a  high  degree  of  endurance  for  a 
long  time.  Thus  few  of  the  distance  runners  of  the  high 
school  make  good  in  the  university,  unless  they  have 
come  up  through  a  long  course  of  cross  country  or  hare 
and  hounds,  where  the  development  of  the  heart  has  been 
gradual  and  without  strain.  One  noted  athlete,  one  of 
the  strongest  runners  of  his  university,  developed  himself 
while  in  high  school,  not  on  the  track  but  on  the  road 
going  to  and  from  school.  Bailey,  of  Kansas,  a  long-dis- 
tance runner,  developed  himself  by  running  to  and  from 
the  route  where  he  carried  papers.  These  men  and 
others  developed  first  strong  physiques,  and  then  went 
on  the  track  when  they  were  more  mature. 

The  Type  of  Physical  Instructor  Wanted. — The  in- 
structor problem  is  likewise  a  critical  one  in  this  con- 
nection. We  demand  trained  teachers  for  the  intel- 
lectual development  of  our  students,  but  in  the  field  of 
physical  education  we  are  satisfied  with  a  man  who  knows 
little  about  his  subject  save  the  team-work  of  some  one 
sport.  We  put  him  in  charge  of  the  physical  activities 
even  when  he  is  utterly  ignorant  of  any  other  form  of 
exercise.  It  is  a  greater  recommendation  with  the  ma- 
jority of  principals  for  a  man  entering  this  work  that  he 
have  a  "letter"  from  some  university  for  his  participa- 
tion in  some  sport  than  that  he  have  expert  knowledge 
of  the  broad  field  of  physical  education.  It  would  be 
different  if  he  were  put  in  charge  of  his  own  subject,  but 
when  he  takes  charge  of  the  development  of  the  body,  he 
is  biassed  by  his  experience  in  football  and  has  a  contempt 
for  anything  but  that  in  which  he  excels.  Few  men  who 
were  simply  football  athletes  have  made  good  as  high 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  11". 

school  directors.  Baseball,  basket-ball,  and  track  men 
do  better.  There  is  little  encouragement  to  spend  time  on 
such  subjects  as  anatomy,  physiology — which  are  fun- 
damental to  all  physical  development — when  a  knowledge 
of  some  sport  counts  so  much  more  in  obtaining  a  posi- 
tion in  high  school  physical  education.  While  every  di- 
rector should  have  some  sport  in  which  he  is  a  specialist, 
his  knowledge  should  not  be  confined  to  one  sport.  It 
should  be  extensive  enough  to  give  a  wide  view  of  the 
whole  field  and  of  the  benefits  to  the  individual.  When 
the  authorities  recognize  the  proper  status  of  physical 
education,  the  men  preparing  for  this  profession  as  a  life 
work  will  elect  an  extended  curriculum  that  will  be  of  per- 
manent value  to  them  and  enable  them  to  carry  on  a  suc- 
cessful work,  as  judged  by  the  valid  educational  stand- 
ards. 

Factors  Determining  Choice  of  Games. — While  any 
game  will  give  us  a  certain  development,  it  is  necessary  in 
order  that  we  get  the  best  to  select  our  games  with  care 
and  judgment  and  with  a  due  regard  to  the  conditions 
under  which  they  will  be  played.  Many  factors  should 
be  taken  into  consideration.  The  age  of  the  participant 
is  important.  High  school  age  is  a  critical  one  for  certain 
lines  of  development.  It  is  the  period  when  the  organs 
and  functions  of  the  body  are  adjusting  themselves  to  the 
future  needs  of  the  individual,  the  whole  system  being 
in  a  state  of  unstable  equilibrium.  It  is  a  period  of 
growth  of  the  muscular  and  skeletal  systems.  We  should, 
therefore,  eliminate  all  those  exercises  which  will  put  too 
great  a  strain  on  the  muscles,  heart,  and  blood-vessels, 
such  as  the  long-distance  runs.  This  principle  does  not 
refer  to  such  games  as  hare  and  hounds;  for  here  periods 
of  rest  alternate  with  activity.     High  school  age,  again,  is 


446  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  time  when  the  nervous  system  is  assuming  control 
over  the  various  muscle  groups,  therefore  this  phase 
should  be  accepted.  It  is  the  logical  time  for  the  student 
to  acquire  facilities  which  he  will  need  in  later  life.  It  is 
the  period  in  which  to  take  up,  for  example,  such  events 
as  the  broad  jump,  the  high  jump,  hurdles,  pole-vault, 
and  shot  put.  For  the  arms  and  chest  such  exercises  as 
the  parallel  bars,  the  horizontal  bar,  and  rings  are 
valuable. 

Desirable  Qualities  and  the  Games  Required  to  De- 
velop Them. — Again,  we  aie  concerned  at  this  time  of 
life  with  the  inhibitions  which  are  undeveloped.  Our 
high  school  student  is  enthusiastic  to  the  point  of  reck- 
lessness, and  while  this  may  have  its  disadvantages  it 
gives  us  an  excellent  opportunity  to  develop  the  ability 
to  take  care  of  himself  in  times  of  danger.  Later,  he  will 
be  too  cautious  to  attempt  the  feats  that  develop  this 
power.  Courage  comes  from  the  knowledge  of  what  to 
do  when  the  unexpected  arises.  We  can,  therefore,  de- 
velop courage  by  a  judicious  oversight  and  direction  at 
this  time.  This  is  the  gregarious  period.  We  must  call 
forth  the  instinct  of  co-operation  and  sublimate  it  into  a 
loyalty  to  the  institution. 

The  qualities  that  should  be  developed  in  this  period 
are  skill,  speed,  suppleness,  agility,  physical  judgment, 
co-operation,  and  courage.  Those  games  should  be  se- 
lected which  will  tend  to  develop  the  right  type  of  man. 
Those  which  will  make  the  clumsy  agile,  the  weak  strong, 
the  nervous  vigorous,  and  the  phlegmatic  active  are  the 
ones  to  be  chosen  for  this  period.  A  sport  which  calls  out 
a  moderate  amount  of  each  quality  will  have  this  effect, 
especially  if  each  position  in  the  game  calls  forth  these 
qualities. 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS 


447 


A  consideration  of  the  foregoing  principles  will  show 
that  the  games  best  suited  for  this  period  are  baseball, 
soccer,  lacrosse,  sprinting,  the  various  forms  of  jumping, 
elementary  apparatus  work,  basket-ball,  and  some  of  the 
defensive  sports  such  as  boxing  and  singlestick.  Baseball 
is  good  because  it  demands  skill  and  judgment  and  a  great 
many  of  the  qualities  suggested.  Soccer  is  an  excellent 
game  for  high  school  students  as  it  develops  skill,  alert- 


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Chart  I. — This  chart  shows  the  physical  development  reached 
through  a  course  in  all-around  athletics.  This  student  devoted 
his  time  to  development  in  skill  so  that,  before  graduation,  he 
held  the  college  record  in  high  jump,  pole-vault,  and  hurdles,  and 
was  among  the  best  at  the  broad  jump.  This  is  a  record  of  four 
years'  consistent  work  in  athletics.  However,  all  the  other  ad- 
vantages of  athletics,  in  addition  to  this  development  of  his  phy- 
sique, he  enjoyed  to  a  high  degree,  as  shown  by  his  record. 


448 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


ness  of  action,  quick  judgment,  and  a  certain  amount  of 
self-assertion  and  self-confidence  combined  with  co-oper- 


Chart  II. — This  chart  shows  the  development  from  long-dis- 
tance running.  This  student  was  on  the  freshman  team  for  one 
year  and  on  the  varsity  team  for  three.  His  events  were  the 
mile,  the  two  mile,  and  cross  country.  The  heavy  black  line 
represents  his  measurements  on  entering  college  and  the  broken 
line  those  taken  on  the  eve  of  his  graduation.  Comment  is 
unnecessary  as  the  lines  speak  for  themselves.  When  the  hy- 
pertrophy of  the  heart,  which  is  a  necessary  part  of  a  runner's 
equipment,  has  been  reduced  to  the  normal,  and  the  muscular 
system  has  lost  the  tone  of  vigorous  training,  what  is  left  to  the 
runner  save  a  few  medals  and  honors?  The  athletic  ability  he 
has  acquired  is  simply  that  of  an  automaton  with  the  power  to 
concentrate  and  drive  the  body  beyond  its  normal  limits;  a 
power  which  is  a  menace  to  the  person  once  the  heart  and  mus- 
cles have  lost  their  tone. 


HIGH   SCHOOL  ATHLETICS  449 

ation  with  the  other  members  of  the  team.  It  is  an 
excellent  preparation  for  football,  as  it  teaches  one  to 
work  on  his  feet  and  with  his  feet,  also  to  meet  an  oppo- 
nent without  flinching  and  in  such  a  way  as  to  eliminate 
the  shock.  Fewer  accidents  would  result  from  the  other 
game  if  the  individuals  were  first  taught  soccer.  It  is 
one  of  the  least  expensive  games  as  very  little  new  equip- 


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12.9 

UR 

13.4 

13.6 

■i* 

pi^n! 

14.4 

15.3 

16.1 

IS 

.8 

L.  thigh. 

19 

.5 

17.0 

18.3 

19. 0\ 

jo9.6 

20.0 

20.2 

•5 
20.4 

affl 

*J   1 

22  8 

24.0 

21 

.5 

L.  calf, 

12 

.7 

11.7 

12.5 

r     ' 

13  2 

13.4 

13.6 

13.8J 

1* 

14.4 

15.3 

16  1 

131.9  . 

1 

r~ 

f 

I 

J 

Chart  III.— The  chart  of  a  student  who  took  the  regular  class 
work  in  physical  education — soccer  one  half  term,  basket-ball 
one  half  term,  and  apparatus  work  one  term.  The  solid  line 
represents  his  measurements  on  entering  and  the  broken  line 
his  measurements  at  the  close  of  his  freshman  year. 

This  was  not  a  selected  case  but  one  that  came  into  the  office 
for  his  second  measurement  while  this  chapter  was  being  written. 
There  was  no  special  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  student  to  make 
a  record.     It  came  in  the  ordinary  course  of  the  school  work. 


450 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


ment  is  required.  Lacrosse  is  an  ideal  game  for  this  pe- 
riod as  it  develops  the  best  type  of  athlete — the  wiry, 
supple,  agile  man  with  good  arms  and  shoulders.  The 
objection  that  it  is  difficult  to  learn  is  a  point  in  its  favor, 
once  it  is  started;  for  then  there  is  so  much  to  learn 
that  it  never  becomes  tiresome.  It  is  not  an  expensive 
game  as  it  requires  no  special  uniform  but  is  played  in 
a  running  suit.     The  crosse  is  not  expensive  and  lasts 


Per  Cent. 

i 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

00 

70 

so 

00 

100 

1 

Height, 

6R 

9 

S2.0 

64.8 

66.2 

166.9 

8!.t 

68.2 

68.81 

.69.8 

70.0 

71.0 

72.7 

59 

0 

Weight. 

14 

=5   f 

95 

116 

123   j  130 

136 

142 

nil  i^jr,7 

168 

lssl  55.0 

Neck, 

1' 

:.0 

12.0 

13.0 

13.3   113.5 

13.7 

13.9 

0T1  |14.S 

H\ 

15.2 

16.2 

14.6 

Chest,  contracted. 

31 

1.7 

28.0 

30.1 

31.1    31.8 

32  T, 

A 

33.4 

34.0 

/ 

35 .0 

39.0 

34 

.5 

Chest,  expanded. 

35 

6 

30.0 

33.2  |34.3 

36. 0 

36.3 

36.8 

37.3  l38Ttl 

40.0 

42.0 

38 

.3 

Waist. 

30 

fl 

25.6 

27.0 

27.9 

28  5 

29.0  129.4 

grWm^lai  3J33.5 

36.0 

51 

.7 

R.  arm  down. 

10, 

7 

7.8 

8.9 

9.4 

9.7 

9.9  1 10.1 

10.3 

10  Cflll  0Z12.1 

13.0 

11 

.6 

R.  arm  up. 

12. 

4 

9.0 

10.3 

10.6 

11.0 

11.3  1 11.5 

11.7  12.0 

TJL4 

mi. 

14.0 

15 

.3 

R.  forearm. 

10, 

7 

8.S 

9.1 

9.6 

9.9 

10.1    10.3 

10.4    10.6, 

■0.8 

£ 

11.4 

10 

.9 

L.  arm  down. 

10, 

3 

9.4 

9.7 

9  9 

10  1 

T06 

11  ff  12.1 

13.0 

11 

.1 

1 .  arm  np. 

31, 

8 

9  0 

10.3 

10  6 

11.0 

11,3 

11.6 

11  \ 

ll2  01  12  4?  13.1 

14.0 

12 

.6 

L.  forearm. 

10 

1 

8  3 

9.1 

9.6 

9.9 

ukj0 

10_4 

■K.fT  10.8|  11.2 

11.4 

10 

.4 

R.  thigh. 

ZO, 

0 

17.0 

18.3 

19.0    19.6 

2MO 

20.2 

20  4 

2fe 

«m!  22.8 

24.0 

21 

,4 

R.  calf. 

13 

4 

11.7 

12.5 

12.9 

13.2 

w' 

13.6 

19  8 

U» 

14  4    15.3 

16.1 

14 

.0 

L.  thigh. 

19. 

9 

17.0 

18.3 

19.0    19.6 

Ji  a 

20.2 

20  4 

20.8 

4»4    22.8 

24.0 

21 

.5 

L.  calf. 

13 

4 

11.7| 

12.5 

12.9    13. 2|  \.4 

13.6 

13  8 

14  -ft 

^1 
14.4    15.3 

16.1 

141 

.1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

. 

I 

~1 

Chart  IV. — This  chart  shows  the  results  of  three  months'  work 
in  a  deliberate  attempt  to  make  the  body  more  symmetrical. 
The  subject  was  a  medical  student  whose  classes  ran  from 
8  A.  m.  to  5.30  p.  m.  The  exercise  was  taken  at  12  m.  until 
12.30,  when  a  light  lunch  was  partaken  of,  allowing  him  to  get 
back  to  work  at  1.30.  His  work  consisted  of  pulley  weights  and 
clubs  for  the  chest,  squatting  and  tumbling  for  the  neck  and  legs, 
and  the  horse  and  parallel  bars  for  the  arms  and  legs. 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  451 

for  several  years.  The  game  is  one  in  which  there  is  a 
certain  amount  of  personal  contact,  enough  to  make  it 
strenuous  and  demand  self-control.  Basket-ball  is  for 
the  winter  months,  indoors,  what  the  above  games  are 
for  outdoors.  The  development  derived  from  basket- 
ball resembles  that  obtained  from  lacrosse.  It  was  an 
attempt  to  get  a  game  like  lacrosse  that  introduced 
basket-ball.  All  these  games  must  be  regulated  as  there 
may  be  too  great  a  strain  on  the  heart.  However,  there 
is  this  difference  between  these  and  the  long-distance 
runs,  that  the  strain  on  the  heart  becomes  less  as  the 
player  becomes  more  expert,  and  skill  in  passing  takes 
the  place  of  individual  running.  With  all  these  should 
be  associated  some  form  of  apparatus  work,  as  there  is 
no  game  that  brings  out  the  development  of  the  arms 
and  chest.     See  Chart  No.  I. 

Certain  Practical  Considerations. — There  are  several 
practical  phases  of  the  subject  of  physical  education 
which  should  be  taken  into  consideration.  First,  as  to 
equipment;  some  games  cannot  be  used  because  we  may 
not  have  the  necessary  equipment.  This  is  especially 
true  of  apparatus  work  in  a  gymnasium.  But  the  great 
majority  of  the  really  valuable  sports  can  be  played  on 
almost  any  kind  of  ground.  Baseball,  lacrosse,  and  soc- 
cer can  be  played  on  almost  any  clear  space.  Second, 
there  should  be  plenty  of  opportunity  for  competition. 
It  is  almost  useless  for  one  institution  to  select  a  game, 
no  matter  how  good  it  may  be,  unless  the  near-by  insti- 
tutions adopt  the  same  game,  although  it  may  be  made 
interesting  as  an  interclass  game.  In  this  matter  a 
county  or  district  organization  can  do  effective  and  valu- 
able work  in  getting  the  schools  together  and  deciding 
upon  the  best  sport  to  be  encouraged  in  that  particular 


452 


THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 


GAMES 

KINDERGARTEN 

GRADES            JHI6KSCH0M.JCOLLEGE 

nCHWCAL 

/ 

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! 

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s 

6 

z_ 

H 

a 

K> 

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j-j  it 

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AERONAUTICS 

I    [ 

— 

ANTE-OVER 

— 

1    I 

ARCHERY 
AUTO  POLO 



BASEBALL 

BASKETBALL 

BEAN  BAGS 

BOWLING 

BCWING 

- 

- 

- 

CANOEING 
CRPTRIN  BALL 
CATAPULT 

1         | 

III 

CROQUET 

■■-- 

CROSS  COUNTRY 
CROSS  TRG 

. 

CURLING 

DISCUS 

DISTANCE  RUNNINC 
DODGE  BALL 

DUCK  ON  THE  ROCK 

FENCING 
TOOTBALL 

- 

GOLF 

HAMMCR  THROW 

HANDBALL 

_r       

HANG  TAG 

HARE  AND  HOUND 

HOCKEY  (FIELD) 

HOCKEY  (ICE) 

i 1  | 

HORIZONTAL  BAR 

~-j — i — I  -i — r  — i — i — i — i— 

HORSE  SIDE 

■;  i  |  ["]  '  i  '  ;  ' 

HURDLES  (HIGH) 

HURDLES  (LOW) 

JAVELIN  THROW 
KITE  FLYING 

MARBLES 

I  |  1 — r 

MARCHING 

MUMBLY  PEG 

T-!  | 

:  :  1 

I 

PARALLEL  BARS 
POLE  VAULT 

i— j.  ii 

— : — .   1    ,    !    | 

PONY  POLO 

^_ ^___ 

PRISONER'S   HASP 
QUO/TS 

RELAYS 

RUN  SHFrP  RUN 

SINGLE  STICK 
SHOT  PUT 

SOCCER 

SPRINTING 

SW/MMING 

TAG 

1 

THREC  DEEP 

TOPS 

TUMBLING 

- 

l/OLLEf  BALL 
WATER  POLO 

_ 

a 

: 

Chart  V. — In  making  this  chart,  a  questionnaire  was  sent  to  the 
leading  directors  of  physical  education  in  colleges,  private  pre- 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  453 

paratory  schools,  and  high  schools.  The  data  obtained  from  the 
answers  are  used  in  the  chart.  In  a  great  number  of  cases  the 
agreement  was  approximate  and  the  point  was  selected.  When 
there  was  a  divergence  of  opinion  and  a  majority  favored  a 
certain  point,  that  was  chosen.  When  there  was  a  divergence 
and  the  opinions  scattered,  an  average  was  struck.  Thus  the 
chart  will  not  correspond  exactly  to  the  ideas  of  any  individual, 
but  the  variation  is  not  greater  than  the  personal-equation 
factor  would  lead  us  to  expect.  The  author  does  not  agree  with 
the  chart  in  every  particular,  but  he  feels  that  the  consensus  of 
opinion  of  experts  is  preferable  to  his  own. 

The  kindergarten  games  and  many  that  would  be  found  in  the 
grade  school  period  are  omitted.  The  games  are  arranged  alpha- 
betically rather  than  by  groups,  mainly  for  convenience  in  refer- 
ence. 

A  glance  at  the  chart  will  show  some  of  the  points  emphasized 
in  the  preceding  pages.  For  example,  thirty-two  of  the  games 
listed  have  their  beginning  in  the  grade  school  age,  twenty-five 
in  the  high  school  period,  two  in  the  college  and  one  in  the  tech- 
nical school,  and  not  one  in  a  later  period.  No  better  illustration 
could  be  found  for  the  necessity  of  a  systematic  course  in  games 
in  the  grades  and  high  school  years.  Again,  the  length  of  useful- 
ness of  a  game  is  shown,  e.  g.,  archery,  baseball,  and  several  others 
begin  early  and  continue  till  late  in  life,  while  ice-hockey,  water- 
polo,  and  several  others  begin  late  and  last  but  a  few  years. 
The  chart  will  suggest  other  evaluations  of  games  in  terms  of 
their  relation  to  the  periods  of  development. 

locality.  Again,  the  expense  of  playing  the  game,  such 
as  travelling  and  other  expenses,  must  be  considered.  A 
small  school  may  be  able  to  get  together  a  few  men  of 
slight  build  and  develop  them  in  skill,  whereas  it  would 
be  impossible  for  it  to  get  enough  big  men  to  make  a  game 
of  football  interesting.  Furthermore,  the  time  taken  to 
train  a  team  is  also  a  problem.  Some  games  can  be  mas- 
tered bit  by  bit.  Two  or  three  men  can  pass  the  ball  so 
as  to  become  expert  in  lacrosse,  and  the  more  of  this  that 


454  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

is  done  the  better  the  team;  or  they  might  learn  the  dif- 
ferent methods  of  kicking  a  soccer  ball;  whereas  it  is 
impossible  to  get  a  respectable  team  of  football  unless 
every  man  is  present,  even  the  substitutes. 

The  Coaching  Problem  is  frequently  a  perplexing  one. 
It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  get  men  who  can  coach  the 
game  most  desired  and  who  have  the  other  desirable 
qualifications.  A  start  can  be  made,  however,  and  soon 
knowledge  and  skill  will  come.  One  physical  director 
whom  I  knew  had  never  seen  a  game  of  soccer  until  his 
opponents  lined  up  against  him.  Yet  his  team  made  a 
creditable  showing,  winning  all  but  one  of  the  games 
played.  In  most  of  the  games  co-operation  is  a  factor 
rather  than  team-work,  the  players  go  on  their  own  initi- 
ative and  frequently  work  out  combinations  for  them- 
selves. In  this  case  the  coach  is  not  such  an  important 
factor  as  in  those  games  where  the  team  must  work  ac- 
cording to  a  preconceived  plan  and  follow  directions.  In 
the  latter  case  the  coach  is  the  field  general  and  directs 
the  game  from  the  dressing-room  before  the  start,  some- 
times, indeed,  from  the  side-lines  during  the  progress  of 
the  game — a  violation  of  ethical  standards  and  happily 
passing. 

Athletics  and  Medical  Supervision. — Before  entering 
upon  any  kind  of  physical  exercise  the  student  should 
undergo  a  thorough  medical  and  physical  examination. 
This  is  necessary  in  order  to  determine  the  parts  of  the 
physique  that  need  development,  and  to  discover  any 
abnormalities  that  need  correction,  thus  safeguarding  the 
student.  There  are  several  conditions  which  indicate 
that  exercise  should  not  be  taken.  This  condition  may 
be  temporary  and  it  is  necessary  that  care  be  taken 
at  certain  times.     There  are  conditions  that  demand 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  455 

exercise,  when  the  exercise  must  be  of  such  a  nature  that 
it  will  not  injure  the  individual.  Other  conditions  de- 
mand a  vigorous  and  strenuous  form.  It  is  also  neces- 
sary to  safeguard  the  institution.  This  examination, 
especially  the  medical,  is  essential  in  the  case  of  those 
who  take  part  in  athletics,  not  because  the  exercises  are 
so  strenuous  in  themselves,  but  because  in  compe- 
tition the  contestant  cannot  stop  when  he  knows  that  it 
would  be  best  for  him  to  do  so.  If  he  fails  to  keep  going 
he  is  called  a  quitter.  This  principle  is  one  of  great 
educational  value,  yet  it  may  cause  a  student  to  go 
beyond  the  danger  point,  and  suffer  heart  complications. 
Exercise,  properly  directed,  is  of  great  value  in  cases  of 
heart  trouble.  It  must,  however,  be  employed  for  the 
benefit  of  the  individual  and  not  to  win  contests.  There 
are  plenty  of  cases  where  a  student  has  taken  part  in  all 
kinds  of  interscholastic  contests  only  to  be  rejected  when 
appearing  as  a  candidate  for  a  varsity  team.  Doubtless, 
many  of  the  fatalities  in  football  result  from  a  lack  of 
supervision  rather  than  from  the  roughness  of  the  game. 
Most  of  these  fatalities  have  occurred  in  high  school 
football. 

During  the  period  of  competition,  close  watch  should 
be  kept  on  the  players.  In  football,  where  the  whole 
team  is  strained  to  the  limit,  injuries  come  when  the 
player  becomes  tired  out.  A  blow  which  would  not  be 
noticed  when  the  body  is  in  good  condition  will,  with  his 
muscles  relaxed  and  the  joints  strained,  sometimes  result 
seriously.  Whenever  a  player  shows  signs  of  fatigue,  he 
should  be  allowed  to  recover  before  exposing  himself  to 
possible  injury.  The  heart  grows  during  a  period  of 
training,  but  the  growth  is  not  uniformly  steady  when 
the  time  of  training  is  short.     There  is  a  period  of  growth 


456  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

when  a  strain  causes  a  dilatation  of  the  heart  and  a  thin- 
ning of  the  walls.  When  this  occurs,  it  is  necessary  to 
rest  the  individual  for  a  short  time.  The  growth  will 
then  continue.  A  strain  at  this  time  may  cause  serious 
trouble.  When  the  body  is  put  to  such  a  severe  test,  as 
in  many  athletic  contests,  it  is  necessary  for  the  player 
to  be  constantly  watched,  and  that  not  by  the  coach  but 
by  some  one  who  knows  the  conditions  and  whose  busi- 
ness it  is  to  subordinate  the  game  to  the  individual. 

The  growth  of  the  body  is  not  uniform.  It  has  nodes 
of  growth.  At  these  times  the  strength  of  the  individual 
is  not  equal  to  unusual  strain.  The  high  school  student 
is  in  this  period  of  growth  and  needs  the  most  careful 
attention.  In  the  case  of  a  boy  under  observation  during 
the  past  season  this  can  be  illustrated.  From  December 
to  March  the  growth  in  height  was  two  and  one  half 
inches;  during  April  and  May  the  growth  was  three 
tenths  of  one  inch;  in  June  the  increase  was  three  tenths 
of  an  inch.  If  medical  supervision  is  necessary  in  col- 
lege, it  is  much  more  so  in  high  schools,  where  the  stu- 
dent is  in  a  formative  period  and  should  have  the  best 
possible  guidance  in  his  development. 

Equipment-Floor. — So  often  we  hear  a  principal  say 
that  he  would  be  glad  to  put  such  a  course  in  physical 
education  as  advocated  above  into  the  school,  but  lack 
of  funds  prevents  it.  He  keeps  putting  off  its  introduc- 
tion until  he  is  able  to  begin  with  a  large  gymnasium  and 
a  full  staff  of  directors.  A  great  deal  may  be  done  with 
very  little  equipment  if  the  director  is  resourceful  and 
interested  in  the  highest  things  of  his  department.  Ten 
years  ago  the  equipment  of  some  of  our  State  uni- 
versities was  sadly  inadequate.  The  gymnasiums  of 
Kansas  and  Missouri  Universities  at  that  time  were  in 


HIGH   SCHOOL  ATHLETICS  457 

the  basements  of  buildings,  and  yet  a  fairly  good  class 
of  work  was  done  on  floors  35  x  80  and  n  feet  high.  In- 
deed, the  tendency,  when  the  equipment  is  very  good,  is 
to  utilize  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  few  experts  rather  than 
for  the  whole  student  body. 

Almost  every  high  school  has  a  room  that  might  be 
used  for  the  purpose,  that  could  be  fitted  up  at  little 
expense,  and  could  be  used  for  a  few  years.  It  can 
then  be  used  for  some  other  purpose,  and  the  expen- 
diture is  seldom  if  ever  lost.  The  great  desideratum 
is  to  have  a  floor  space  that  can  be  used  for  practice 
of  the  simpler  games  and  for  mass  class  work.  It 
may  range  from  30  x  40  up  to  any  size  that  can  be 
secured.  A  good  game  of  basket-ball  can  be  played  on 
a  floor  30  x  40. 

The  aim  in  the  selection  of  a  room,  or  in  the  erection 
of  a  building,  should  be  to  accommodate  the  greatest 
number  possible,  at  the  greatest  variety  of  exercises,  and 
cover  the  greatest  number  of  hours  daily.  The  general 
aim  should  be  to  have  a  room  arranged  so  that  it  can  be 
opened  up  to  accommodate  a  large  meet  or  divided  into 
rooms  to  accommodate  a  number  of  small  classes  at  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  work.  This  may  be  accomplished  by 
means  of  sliding  doors  or  by  nets  or  curtains.  Unless 
some  arrangement  of  this  kind  is  planned,  a  game  of 
basket-ball  will  occupy  the  whole  available  area,  and  thus 
ten  men  will  use  the  space  that  might  accommodate  one 
hundred.  An  ideal  arrangement,  where  economy  is  con- 
cerned, is  to  have  three  floors,  one  for  lockers,  swimming 
pool,  bowling-alleys,  handball  courts,  etc.;  the  next  floor 
to  be  used  for  apparatus,  boxing,  and  wrestling  rooms. 
The  upper  story  is  to  be  used  as  a  game  room  and  to 
be  always  available.  This  should  cost,  fully  equipped, 
$100,000,  having  two  gymnasiums  on  the  first  floor,  one 


458  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

for  boys  and  one  for  girls,  each  50  x  70  and  always  avail- 
able for  apparatus  work  and  individual  development. 
The  second  floor  should  be  128x71  and  29  feet  high. 
On  this  floor  should  be  marked  out  a  full-sized  tennis- 
court,  an  indoor  base-ball  court,  and  a  full-sized  basket- 
ball court  with  room  for  1,500  spectators.  Besides,  there 
would  be  two  basket-ball  courts  crosswise,  45  x  55,  with 
out-of-bounds  all  around.  This  is  the  construction  at  the 
University  of  Kansas.  The  main  points  to  be  considered 
are  the  accommodation  of  the  greatest  number  of  men  at 
the  best  time  of  the  day  and  such  an  arrangement  that 
the  director  can  control  the  greatest  number.  It  should 
interfere  as  little  as  possible  with  the  best  schedule  of 
studies. 

Many  school  buildings  have  a  large  attic — a  waste 
room  that  could  be  utilized  for  this  purpose.  An  attic  is 
better  than  \  basement  room,  as  it  is  lighter  and  drier, 
with  better  ventilation.  The  attic  in  a  building  60  x  125, 
or  even  smaller,  with  a  pitched  roof,  could  be  utilized  to 
excellent  advantage. 

Apparatus. — When  a  gymnasium  is  mentioned  we 
think  of  a  great  array  of  machines  and  apparatus  as  a 
necessary  part  of  the  expenditure,  but  the  apparatus  to 
be  efficient  need  be  neither  extensive  nor  expensive.  A 
good  floor  space  without  apparatus  is  better  than  fine 
apparatus  without  the  space.  So  far  as  health  and  rec- 
reation are  concerned,  these  can  be  obtained  by  games 
which  need  nothing  but  the  space  in  which  to  play  them. 
The  first  requisite  in  apparatus  is  a  number  of  good  mats. 
They  should  be  of  such  sizes  that  they  can  be  placed 
side  by  side  for  wrestling  or  end  to  end  for  tumbling.  In 
this  way  we  can  have  variety  and  yet  have  them  com- 
bined when  necessary,  e.  g.,  three  mats,  one,  5  feet 
by  10  feet  by  2  inches,  and  two,  5  feet  by  5  feet  by  2 


HIGH   SCHOOL   ATHLETICS  459 

inches.  These  can  be  used  for  tumbling,  high  jumping, 
and  a  great  variety  of  work  of  the  very  best  kind. 

The  light  apparatus  is  inexpensive  and  if  necessary 
can  be  turned  out  in  the  manual-training  department. 
These  include  dumb-bells,  clubs,  wands,  rings,  and 
hoops.  A  pair  of  parallel  bars  comes  next  in  usefulness 
and  variety,  as  well  as  being  moderate  in  price.  At  this 
point  it  is  well  to  duplicate  a  good  piece  rather  than  to 
spend  the  same  money  on  too  great  a  variety  of  appa- 
ratus. Class  work  can  be  conducted  better  when  it  can 
be  divided  into  squads,  each  one  of  them  doing  the  same 
exercise  on  different  pieces  of  apparatus  of  the  same 
make.  The  instructor  is  able  to  give  better  attention  in 
this  way.  With  three  sets  of  parallel  bars  an  instructor 
can  take  care  of  six  squads  of  from  six  to  ten  students 
each  doing  the  exercise  which  he  has  set.  The  next 
best  piece  of  apparatus  is  the  low  horizontal  bar  or  better 
still  an  adjustable  bar  which  can  be  used  as  a  high  and  as 
a  low  bar.  These  may  be  folded  against  the  wall  and  be 
put  out  of  the  way  of  games.  It  is  needless  to  go  over 
the  different  pieces  of  apparatus,  but  the  general  plan  is 
clear.  The  apparatus  of  a  high  school  is  not  necessarily 
like  that  of  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  or  athletic  club.  In  the  latter 
there  are  a  greater  variety  of  persons  and  a  greater  va- 
riation in  their  tastes.  Class  work  is  the  ideal  for  the 
high  school,  as  the  students  need  the  incentive  of  compe- 
tition and  company  to  do  good  work. 

Apparatus  Suitable  for  a  Small  Gymnasium.1 — The  fol- 
lowing equipment  will  accommodate  a  class  of  from 
twenty  to  thirty  pupils: 

1  Gymnastic  apparatus  may  be  obtained  from  the  following  firms: 
Narragansett  Machine  Co.,  Providence,  R.  I.;  A.  G.  Spalding  &  Bros., 
126  Nassau  St.,  New  York,  149  Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago;  Fred  Medart 
Manfg.  Co.,  DeKalb  and  President  Sts.,  St.  Louis;  A.  Mandl  &  Co., 
Chicago,  111. 


460  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

30  pairs  clubs,  iM  lbs $16 .  50 

30  pairs  dumb-bells,  1  lb 15.00 

3  doz.  wands 4 .  80 

2  mats,  2  in.  thick,  5  x  10 60. qo 

4  mats,  2  in.  thick,  5x5 60 .  06 

1  set  parallel  bars 45  00 

2  adjustable  vaulting  bars 52  .00 

2  basket-balls 10.00 

Set  basket-ball  goals  and  backstops 24.00 

Volley-ball  net  and  ball 6 .  00 

1  spring-board 27 .00 


$320.30 

This  equipment  is  quoted  at  list  price  and  in  many- 
cases  is  subject  to  discount.  Another  cut  on  this  could 
be  made  by  selecting  apparatus  from  several  firms,  as 
some  pieces  are  cheaper  in  one  catalogue  than  in  another 
or,  again,  some  pieces  are  better  from  one  firm  than 
from  another.  Again,  some  of  this  can  be  made  by  a 
carpenter,  or  by  the  manual-training  department  of  the 
school.  The  basket-ball  backstops  can  be  made  on  the 
grounds  and  at  less  expense  than  by  shipping  them  long 
distances. 

Outdoor  Equipment. — A  small  field  near  the  building 
is  better  than  a  large  field  at  a  distance.  The  sports  that 
are  best  adapted  to  high  school  age  are  those  that  can 
be  carried  on  in  a  small  field.  High  jump,  pole-vault, 
broad  jump,  shot  put,  and  even  hurdles  might  well  be  a 
part  of  the  regular  work  of  the  students.  A  city  lot 
75  x  125,  well  planned  and  arranged,  close  to  the  school, 
can  do  more  for  athletic  development  of  a  school  than 
the  finest  field,  beautifully  equipped,  which  is  inaccessible 
to  the  general  student  body.  Of  course,  a  good  field,  well 
equipped  and  well  conducted,  is  better  still  if  it  is  easily 
accessible  to  students  between  class  hours.     Athletics 


HIGH   SCHOOL  ATHLETICS  461 

can  and  should  be  carried  on  in  classes  just  as  well  as 
apparatus  work.  The  aim  of  the  athletic  field  should  be 
the  same  as  that  of  the  whole  school,  first  the  classroom 
and  the  laboratory  and  then  the  auditorium.  In  ath- 
letics, however,  we  are  apt  to  reverse  this  and  make  the 
spectator  part  primary  and  the  laboratory  secondary. 

The  responsibility  for  this  rests  with  the  principal  and 
the  board  of  education.  So  long  as  they  measure  the 
success  of  a  director  by  the  number  of  cups  that  he  can 
put  in  the  trophy  room,  rather  than  by  the  straight  backs, 
ruddy  complexions,  and  vigorous  physiques  of  the  stu- 
dent body,  so  long  will  he  of  necessity  spend  his  time 
and  energy  on  the  few  and  neglect  the  many.  It  is  just 
as  great  a  discredit  to  the  director  to  have  students 
stoop-shouldered  and  anaemic  as  it  is  for  the  teacher  to 
have  failures  in  his  classes. 

In  our  class  work  we  are  inclined  to  hold  the  good  stu- 
dent back,  push  the  poor  student  on,  and  mould  all  to 
the  median.  In  athletics  we  push  the  good  student  to  the 
limit,  and  even  beyond,  and  neglect  the  others.  Neither 
practice  is  correct;  rather,  the  good  student  should  have 
exceptional  opportunities,  the  normal  should  be  stimu- 
lated, and  the  poor  driven  forward  by  the  best  means  at 
hand — none  should  be  neglected.  Physical  education 
will  never  fulfil  its  function  until  director,  principal,  and 
governing  body  realize  its  possibilities  and  responsibili- 
ties. They  must  insist  that  it  be  put  on  a  proper  basis, 
with  the  proper  financial  backing,  being  relieved  from 
the  necessity  of  making  the  gate  receipts  cover  the  ex- 
penditures. 

Apparatus. — The  same  principles  should  govern  the 
outdoor  equipment  as  the  indoor.  The  accommodation 
of  a  large  number  of  men  is  of  prime  importance.     Sets 


462  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

of  jump  standards  fixed  with  proper  runways,  arranged 
in  groups,  will  accommodate  classes  as  in  a  laboratory 
of  any  other  kind.  When  we  realize  that  this  is  the  very 
best  form  of  training  that  can  be  given  to  high  school 
students  it  is  a  wonder  that  we  have  not  before  appreci- 
ated it. 

/ 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

STUDENT  DEBATING  ACTIVITIES 

A.  Monroe  Stowe,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF  EDUCATION,   DE   PAUW   UNIVERSITY 

The  Adolescent  and  the  Debating  Instinct. — The  ado- 
lescent period  is  a  critical  one  in  the  development  of 
the  tendency  to  debate,  for  it  is  in  the  period  of  ado- 
lescence that  this  tendency  develops  most  rapidly.  Fol- 
low any  healthy-minded  adolescent  through  a  day's 
activities  and  you  will  be  surprised  at  the  number  of 
times  his  ideas,  convictions,  and  beliefs  come  into  conflict 
with  those  of  other  people.  You  cannot  help  but  admire 
the  way  in  which  he  stands  by  his  guns  in  these  conflicts. 
He  is  eager  not  only  to  defend  but  also  to  force  others 
to  accept  as  their  own  his  ideas,  convictions,  and  beliefs. 
Unfortunately,  however,  he  is  not  always  wise  in  what  he 
thinks  and  in  what  he  would  have  others  think  and  do. 
He  is  overhasty  in  generalizing  and  in  drawing  infer- 
ences. He  needs  to  be  taught  how  to  study  a  problem 
in  a  scientific  way,  to  draw  tentative  conclusions,  and  to 
suspend  his  judgment.  He  is  too  eager  to  debate.  He 
must  learn  the  value  of  discussion,  not  only  as  a  means 
for  clearing  the  way  for  debate,  but  also  as  a  means  for 
enlarging  knowledge  and  clearing  vision,  thereby  often 
making  debate  unnecessary.  And,  finally,  he  needs  to 
learn  how  to  organize  and  to  present  his  arguments  in  a 
logical  and  forceful  way. 

463 


464  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Such  are  the  needs  which  high  schools  without  debate 
courses  are  endeavoring  to  meet  through  high  school  de- 
bating societies  and  through  inter-high  school  debating. 
It  is  the  aim  of  the  present  chapter  to  discuss  infor- 
mally some  of  the  most  important  problems  which  con- 
front schools  that  are  endeavoring  to  meet  these  needs 
through  such  student  activities. 

Genuine  Debates  and  Pseudo-Debates. — As  student 
debating  activities  in  too  many  cases  result  in  what 
might  be  called  pseudo-debates  which  develop  super- 
ficiality, insincerity,  and  other  immoral  and  anti-social 
tendencies  in  audiences,  as  well  as  in  contestants,  the 
problems  which  we  shall  consider  are  but  phases  of 
the  larger  one:  Under  what  conditions  and  by  the  util- 
ization of  what  methods  of  procedure  may  these  activi- 
ties be  made  to  result  in  genuine  debates  which  shall 
develop  in  both  audience  and  debaters  thought,  sin- 
cerity, moral  purpose,  and  social  capacities?  Although 
our  discussion  is  thus  limited  to  the  moral  and  social 
education  phases  of  the  high  school  debate  problem/  still 
the  pages  which  can  be  devoted  to  such  a  discussion  are 
so  few  that  even  these  phases  cannot  be  given  the  detailed 
treatment  they  deserve.  This  has  been  particularly  true 
in  the  discussion  of  inter-high  school  debates.  Appar- 
ently our  greatest  need  for  reform  is  in  our  inter-high 
school  debate  procedure.  In  reality  our  greatest  imme- 
diate problems  are  those  associated  with  the  activities 
of  high  school  debating  societies.  When  these  problems 
are  solved  in  practice  we  shall  have  little  difficulty  in 
working  out  a  practical  solution  of  the  problems  of  inter- 
high  school  debates.     The  truth  of  this  thesis  will  become 

!The  pedagogical  aspects  of  the  question  are  dealt  with  in  High 
School  Education,  Chapter  XII. 


STUDENT   DEBATING   ACTIVITIES  465 

more  apparent  as  we  note  in  our  discussion  of  high  school 
debating  societies  the  many  educational  and  social  values 
which  may  become  realized  through  the  activities  of  such 
societies. 

HIGH   SCHOOL   DEBATING    SOCIETIES 

Time  of  Meetings. — Many  a  debating  club  has  failed 
because  the  school  has  not  provided  a  suitable  time  for 
its  meetings.  If  student  activities  have  the  educational 
possibilities  latent  in  them  that  in  some  schools  they  are 
giving  evidence  of  possessing,  their  educational  value 
ought  to  be  officially  recognized  in  the  programme  of  the 
school,  i.  e.,  there  ought  to  be  set  aside  in  the  programme 
at  least  two  hours  per  week  for  the  meetings  of  the  vari- 
ous student  organizations.  At  this  time  every  student 
ought  to  be  free  from  all  regular  work  of  the  school  so 
that  he  may  attend  the  meeting  of  the  organization  of 
which  he  is  a  member.1  In  doing  this  the  school  would 
not  only  encourage  student  activities,  but  also  show 
the  students  that  it  appreciates  the  educational  value  of 
what  they  are  endeavoring  to  accomplish  through  their 
organizations.2 

Relation  of  Faculty  to  Debating  Society. — If  student 
activities  are  to  become  a  vitally  important  part  of  the 
educational  work  of  the  school,  the  faculty  as  a  faculty 

1  For  students  not  members  of  organizations  meeting  at  such  times 
special  work  should  be  provided  so  that  they  will  not  be  forced  to  choose 
between  an  organization  and  a  free  period  for  loafing  or  for  doing  work 
which  should  be  done  at  another  time. 

2  The  author  has  for  a  long  time  felt  that  the  school  ought  to  show  its 
appreciation  of  the  work  of  student  organizations  by  allowing  for  each 
year  an  hour  of  elective  student  activity  credit,  thus  making  it  possible 
for  a  student  to  earn  during  his  course  four  hours  of  such  credit,  the 
amount  of  which  to  be  earned  in  any  one  form  of  student  activity  to  be 
fixed  by  the  faculty.     It  is  recommended  that  in  order  to  secure  an  hour 


466  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

and  as  individuals  must  co-operate  with  the  various  stu- 
dent organizations.  While  plans,  constitutions,  and  by- 
laws should  originate  with  the  students,  they  ought  to  be 
submitted  for  approval  to  the  faculty  or  to  a  committee 
of  the  faculty  invested  with  power  to  grant  the  students 
permission  to  complete  their  organization  if  everything  is 
satisfactory. 

When  the  plans  of  the  students  interested  in  the  pro- 
posed organizations  are  being  thus  considered,  the  stu- 
dents concerned  are  apt  to  be  in  a  receptive  frame  of  mind 
for  suggestions  from  those  interested  in  their  enterprise. 

In  the  case  of  students  interested  in  the  formation  of 
a  debating  society,  it  is  not  difficult  to  lead  them  to  see 
that  if  they  are  to  do  successful  debate  work  it  will  not 
be  wise  to  organize  a  literary-debating  society  or  to  make 
their  organization  "  co-educational,"  since  in  the  literary- 
debating  society  the  debate  work  suffers  at  the  expense 
of  the  literary  and  musical  interests,  and  since  in  societies 
in  which  the  membership  is  not  limited  either  to  boys  or 
to  girls,  as  the  case  may  be,  the  members  tend  to  sacrifice 
debate  work  for  social  enjoyment.1 

Among  the  conditions  which  every  student  organiza- 
tion should  be  required  to  meet  is  that  of  having  a  fac- 
ulty adviser,  to  be  chosen  by  the  organization,  whose 
choice,  however,  should  be  subject  to  the  approval  of 
either  principal  or  superintendent.     To  be  of  genuine 

of  such  credit  a  student  must  be  a  member  of  a  student  organization 
which  has  been  officially  recognized  and  approved  by  the  faculty,  he 
must  have  been  regular  in  his  attendance  upon  the  meetings  of  the  organ- 
ization for  a  year,  and  he  must  be  recommended  by  the  organization  as 
one  who  has  during  his  membership  willingly  and  efficiently  performed 
his  duties  as  a  member,  all  of  which  must  be  certified  to  and  approved 
by  the  faculty  adviser  of  the  organization. 

1  The  writer  favors  an  occasional  "open"  meeting,  to  which  both  sexes 
are  invited  and  at  which  the  debate  work  is  the  most  important  feature. 


STUDENT   DEBATING   ACTIVITIES  467 

service  to  a  debating  club,  the  person  chosen  as  its  ad- 
viser should  be  one  vitally  interested  in  young  people 
and  capable  of  giving  them  intelligent  constructive  crit- 
icism in  their  work,  a  person  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
best  methods  of  studying  a  question  and  of  the  principles 
of  debate,  and,  if  possible,  a  person  with  considerable 
skill  as  a  debater. 

Methods  of  Procedure  to  Secure  Greatest  Educational 
Value. — The  customary  method  of  procedure  may  be 
sketched  as  follows:  The  power  to  assign  questions  and 
sides  to  members  is  held  by  a  programme  committee. 
Not  infrequently  a  member  who  is  assigned  to  a  side  has 
little  interest  in  the  question  to  be  debated,  and  often 
when  interested  in  the  question  he  is  called  upon  to 
advocate  the  side  opposed  to  his  convictions.  While  he 
may  have  had  from  two  to  four  weeks'  notice,  the  de- 
bater postpones  his  preparation  until  the  last  minute. 
The  debates  are  consequently  uninteresting,  phrased 
in  words  which  unfortunately  express  very  superficial 
thought.  Three  judges  are  usually  appointed  to  decide 
which  side  has  "done  the  better  work."  Sometimes 
after  the  formal  debate  the  question  is  thrown  open  for 
a  discussion  which  many  times  is  the  only  real  and  natu- 
ral part  of  the  whole  procedure.1 

From  the  point  of  view  of  meeting  the  needs  of  the 
students  participating,  this  method  of  procedure  is  weak 

1  The  entire  procedure  is  artificial,  since  it  is  based  upon  a  mistaken 
idea  of  the  nature  of  debate.  In  an  article  entitled,  "The  Motivation 
of  Debate  in  Our  Secondary  Schools,"  published  in  The  School  Review, 
19,  546-9,  of  which  much  in  the  next  few  pages  is  necessarily  a  repro- 
duction, the  writer  thus  briefly  contrasts  the  artificial  school  debate  with 
the  debates  experienced  in  life:  "In  life  the  aim  of  debate  is  to  lead 
others  to  act  or  think  as  we  feel  they  ought  to  act  or  think.  In  our 
school  debates  the  aim  most  frequently  is  to  gain  the  decision  of  the 
judges.     In  life  we  have  little  respect  for  the  person  who  is  not  sincere 


468  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

in  that  it  fails  (i)  to  give  the  club  an  opportunity  to 
select  the  questions  to  be  debated,  (2)  to  give  the  indi- 
vidual member  an  opportunity  to  study  the  problem 
scientifically,  and  (3)  to  give  the  debater  in  every  case 
an  opportunity  either  to  speak  in  accordance  with  his 
convictions  or  to  convince  somebody,  which  is  the  very 
essence  of  life's  debates. 

Selection  of  Question. — Such  negative  criticism  of  our 
customary  methods  of  procedure  indicates  the  points 
at  which  reform  is  needed.  The  club  ought  to  be  al- 
lowed to  select  the  question  to  be  debated.  The  pro- 
cedure of  a  club  with  which  the  writer  was  at  one  time 
associated  as  adviser  is  suggestive  of  what  may  be  done 
in  a  positive  direction.  In  this  club  each  of  the  twenty 
members  presented  at  the  beginning  of  each  term  a 
question  which  he  believed  would  be  of  vital  interest  to 
the  other  members  of  the  club.  From  the  questions 
thus  proposed  the  club  selected  a  number  for  investiga- 
tion. This  brings  us  to  the  second  point  at  which 
reform  is  needed. 

Study  of  Question. — A  satisfactory  method  of  pro- 
cedure must  not  only  give  the  adolescent  an  opportu- 
nity to  study  the  problem  scientifically,  but  also  give 
him  every  encouragement  to  do  so.     We  have  already 

in  his  efforts  to  convince  us,  who  really  does  not  believe  in  the  course 
of  action  which  he  would  have  us  take.  In  our  school  debates  it  is  not 
uncommon  for  debaters  to  argue  against  their  convictions.  In  life, 
logic,  voice,  gesture,  and  personality  are  important  means  which  we  use 
in  our  endeavors  to  accomplish  the  aim  of  debate.  In  our  school  de- 
bates these  means  become  ends  in  themselves,  points  to  be  noted  and 
scored  by  judges  who  use  such  data  in  determining  their  artificial  decision. 
In  life  we  may  see  the  light  during  debate  and  capitulate.  In  school  de- 
bating the  student  who  becomes  convinced  that  he  no  longer  believes  in 
his  side  is  urged  to  continue  in  his  preparation  for  what  may  be  justly 
called  an  intellectual  prize-fight." 


STUDENT   DEBATING   ACTIVITIES  469 

noticed  the  natural  tendency  of  the  adolescent  to  be 
an  advocate  and  to  look  at  a  question  from  a  biassed 
point  of  view.  While  it  may  be  admitted  that  the  de- 
bater, in  order  to  win,  must  study  both  sides  of  a  ques- 
tion, there  is  a  difference  between  the  way  a  scientific 
investigator  and  the  way  a  determined  advocate  "study 
both  sides  of  a  question."  The  investigator  studies  all 
sides  in  order  to  discover  the  best  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem; the  advocate  studies  "the  other  side"  for  the 
purpose  of  discovering  its  weak  points  in  order  to  ex- 
pose them  and  its  strong  points  in  order  to  find  argu- 
ments with  which  to  weaken  their  strength.  The  latter 
training  is  not  that  which  the  adolescent  needs.  He 
needs  to  learn  how  to  go  to  a  problem  with  an  open 
mind  ready  to  learn  from  both  sides  and  to  suspend  his 
judgment  until  he  has  evidence  enough  to  warrant  draw- 
ing a  final  conclusion.  Then  he  is  ready  to  begin  the 
work  which  looks  forward  to  convincing  his  fellows. 

Returning  to  our  account  of  the  method  of  procedure 
of  the  club  just  mentioned,  let  us  note  how  that  club 
endeavored  to  encourage  its  members  to  study  questions 
scientifically.  Of  the  questions  selected  for  investiga- 
tion, one  was  chosen  for  discussion  at  the  following  meet- 
ing. It  will  be  noted  that  the  question  had  not  yet  been 
formulated  as  a  resolution  but  was  still  regarded  as  a 
problem  to  be  solved,  as,  for  example:  "Ought  our  city 
to  own  and  operate  its  telephone  system?"  In  prepa- 
ration for  the  second  meeting  each  member  was  sup- 
posed to  study  the  problem  and  at  roll-call  report 
whether  or  not  he  had  done  so. 

Discussion  of  Question. — At  the  meeting  devoted  to 
the  discussion  of  the  problem  investigated  the  various  so- 
lutions were  presented  together  with  the  arguments  and 


470  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

data  in  their  support.  If,  as  a  result  of  the  discussion, 
the  members  came  to  an  agreement  as  to  the  best  solu- 
tion of  the  problem,  the  question  was  dropped.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  discussion  failed  to  result  in  such  an 
agreement,  there  resulted  a  clash  which  naturally  called 
for  debate,  and  thereupon  one  of  the  solutions  proposed 
was  incorporated  into  a  resolution  to  be  adopted  by  the 
club,  as,  for  example:  "Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of 
this  club  that  our  city  should  own  and  operate  its  tele- 
phone system." 

Selection  of  Debaters. — From  those  eager  to  have  the 
resolution  adopted  two  affirmative  debaters  and  their  two 
alternates  were  selected,  while  from  those  who  believed 
in  other  solutions  of  the  problem  were  chosen  the  two 
negatives  and  their  alternates.  It  will  be  noted  that,  as 
a  result  of  this  method  of  selecting  debaters,  all  the  men 
selected  are  vitally  interested,  and  that  each  man  is  an 
ardent  advocate  of  the  side  he  nas  espoused,  not  because 
it  strikes  his  fancy,  but  because  it  is  an  expression  of  his 
solution  of  a  problem  to  which  he  has  given  an  impartial 
study. 

Real  Debate.— After  the  debaters  had  been  selected  a 
date  for  the  formal  debate  was  fixed.  At  the  meeting 
at  which  the  formal  debate  occurred  the  resolution  was 
formally  presented  by  the  first  speaker  on  the  affirmative 
side  and  was  seconded  by  the  second  speaker  on  that  side. 
The  debate  then  proceeded  according  to  any  rules  which 
may  have  been  agreed  upon  with  respect  to  the  length 
of  speeches  and  to  the  number  of  rebuttals.  At  the  close 
of  the  last  rebuttal  speech  the  previous  question  was 
moved  and  a  written  ballot  taken.  In  voting,  each  mem- 
ber expressed  his  conviction  as  it  stood  after  he  had 
listened  to  both  sides.     In  order  to  pass  the  resolution 


STUDENT  DEBATING   ACTIVITIES  471 

it  was  necessary  to  secure  a  two-thirds  vote.  If  the  neg- 
ative side  received  two  thirds  of  the  votes  cast  the  reso- 
lution was  considered  "killed,"  while  if  neither  side  re- 
ceived such  a  vote  the  resolution  was  placed  on  the  list 
of  debatable  questions. 

In  preparing  themselves  for  such  debates  the  debaters 
knew  that  the  debate  would  call  for  more  than  a  mere 
marshalling  of  logical  arguments.  Arguments  had  to  be 
presented  in  such  a  way  as  to  carry  conviction  in  the 
minds  of  a  group  of  live  men,  each  of  whom  was  more  or 
less  prejudiced  by  his  previous  study  of  the  question. 
In  order  to  carry  such  conviction  to  the  minds  of  others, 
the  debater  himself  had  to  be  convinced.  If  during  his 
preparation  any  one  of  the  debaters  discovered  evidence 
which  destroyed  his  conviction,  it  was  his  duty  to  with- 
draw and  to  allow  his  place  to  be  taken  by  one  of  the 
alternates  working  on  his  side. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  this  method  of  procedure 
introduces  life  situations  which  naturally  evoke  debate 
and  which  permit  the  aims  of  debate  to  be  realized.  All 
members  have  training  in  investigating  and  solving 
problems.  These  problems  are  proposed  by  the  mem- 
bers themselves.  Only  questions  upon  which  there  is  a 
genuine  disagreement  are  debated.  The  integrity  of 
each  debater  is  preserved,  since  all  taking  an  active  part 
in  the  debate  on  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  have  ar- 
rived at  their  convictions  through  an  independent  study 
of  the  problems  involved.  The  real  motive  for  debate  is 
preserved,  since  all  the  efforts  of  the  debaters  are  con- 
centrated upon  convincing  their  fellow  members. 

Excellent  as  the  method  of  procedure  just  described 
may  be  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  realization  of  the 
educational  values  of  student  debating,  the  writer  has 


472  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

discovered  from  experience  that  no  matter  how  satis- 
factory a  method  of  procedure  may  prove  to  be  at  first, 
the  students  tend  to  tire  of  it  unless  there  is  introduced 
from  time  to  time  a  change.  He  therefore  recommends 
the  following  modifications  of  the  method  just  proposed : 
the  "open-debate"  plan  and  what  might  be  called  a 
"jury"  or  "commission"  scheme. 

The  Open-Debate  Plan. — In  the  open-debate  plan  the 
method  of  procedure  is  unchanged  up  to  the  point  of 
formulating  the  resolution,  the  formulation  of  which 
should  be  left  to  the  meeting  at  which  the  formal  debate 
is  to  occur.  The  first  speaker  recognized  by  the  chair  at 
that  time  has  the  privilege  and  the  advantage  of  express- 
ing his  solution  in  the  form  of  a  resolution  to  be  adopted 
by  the  club.  As  it  is  not  known  which  solution  will  be- 
come the  resolution  to  be  debated,  each  member  preparing 
to  take  part  in  the  debate  has  to  prepare  a  defence  and 
a  number  of  attacks  upon  solutions  with  which  he  dis- 
agrees. After  the  first  speaker  has  finished  speaking  the 
question  is  open  to  the  club  for  debate,  each  member 
having  the  privilege  either  of  speaking  a  certain  number 
of  minutes  or  of  allowing  his  time  to  be  taken  by  another 
speaker  on  his  side.  The  club  is  free  to  make  what  rules 
it  desires  concerning  the  number,  length,  and  character 
of  rebuttals.  At  the  close  of  the  period  set  aside  for  de- 
bate the  previous  question  is  moved  and  a  written  ballot 
taken,  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  being  necessary  to 
carry  the  resolution. 

The  Commission  Plan. — In  the  "jury"  or  "commis- 
sion" scheme  the  club  divides  itself  into  groups  of  seven 
or  eight.  Each  of  these  groups  takes  a  problem  of  inter- 
est to  its  members,  studies  it,  discusses  it,  and  in  case  of 
disagreement  incorporates  one  of  the  solutions  into  a 


STUDENT  DEBATING   ACTIVITIES  473 

resolution  and  reports  to  the  club  the  date  when  it  will 
be  ready  to  debate  a  solution  of  the  problem  it  has  been 
studying.  Upon  the  date  set  for  the  debate  the  resolu- 
tion is  read  to  the  club,  which,  if  it  is  a  large  one,  selects 
a  jury,  or  impartial  commission,  to  listen  to  and  weigh 
the  arguments  of  both  sides  and  report  back  to  the  club 
a  decision  either  in  favor  of  or  against  the  resolution. 
Each  member  of  the  commission  is  requested  to  divest 
himself  of  all  prejudice  so  far  as  possible  and  to  base 
his  decision  only  upon  the  evidence  presented.  His  re- 
port reads:  "After  listening  to  and  weighing  the  argu- 
ments of  both  sides  and  taking  into  consideration  only 
the  evidence  introduced  in  the  debate,  I   recommend 

that  the  club  l  adopt  the  following  resolution, 

"2  A  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  "  commis- 
sioners" is  necessary  in  order  to  present  a  favorable 
report,  while  a  failure  on  the  part  of  the  affirmative  to 
secure  such  a  majority  is  considered  a  victory  for  the 
negative.  In  either  case  the  report,  together  with  the 
names  of  the  -'commissioners,"  is  entered  in  the  minutes 
of  the  meeting. 

Although  all  of  the  three  methods  proposed  present 
life  situations  which  naturally  call  forth  debate  and 
thereby  motivate  the  work,  the  "jury"  or  "commission" 
scheme  has  several  advantages  over  the  other  two  in 
that  (i)  it  permits  of  a  larger  number  of  problems  being 
studied  and  discussed  at  one  time,  and  (2)  it  furnishes  an 
opportunity  to  train  members  for  meeting  situations  in 
life  where  one  has  to  make  a  decision  based  upon  evi- 
dence presented  rather  than  upon  private  opinion  or 
prejudice.3 

1  Either  do  or  do  not  to  be  inserted.  -  Insert  resolution. 

3  It  is  recommended  that  for  the  sake  of  variety  the  three  methods 
be  used  interchangeably. 


474  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Work  of  Faculty  Adviser. — While  the  methods  just 
proposed  motivate  the  debate  work  as  well  as  provide 
safeguards  against  mistakes  which  the  adolescent  is  prone 
to  make,  still,  without  the  active  guidance  of  the  faculty 
adviser  debate  work  carried  on  in  accordance  with  any 
of  the  plans  suggested  will  fail  to  realize  the  educational 
value  which  it  is  possible  to  realize  with  the  co-operation 
of  an  intelligent  and  sympathetic  adviser.  It  is  the  ad- 
viser who  from  time  to  time  gives  helpful  suggestions 
concerning  the  best  methods  of  studying  the  problems 
proposed,  concerning  the  best  sources  and  methods  of 
collecting  and  organizing  data,  and  concerning  the  best 
ways  of  finding  the  main  issues  in  the  discussions.  It  is 
he  to  whom  the  debaters  go  for  suggestions  for  making 
briefs  before  the  debate  and  from  whom  after  the  debate 
they  receive  constructive  criticisms  which  indicate  clearly 
to  them  any  fallacies  in  reasoning,  any  mannerisms  or 
forms  of  expression  which  hindered  them  in  their  ef- 
forts to  carry  conviction  to  the  minds  of  their  listeners. 
The  listeners,  too,  receive  from  him  their  share  of  help- 
ful criticism  when,  either  as  voters  or  as  members  of  a 
"jury"  or  "commission,"  they  give  evidence  that  they 
have  been  misled  by  fallacies  of  reasoning  or  by  tricks  of 
speaking,  or  that  they  have  allowed  their  prejudices  or 
preconceptions  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  proper  weigh- 
ing of  the  evidence  presented  in  the  debate. 

INTER-HIGH   SCHOOL   DEBATING 

Relation  of  High  School  Faculty  to  Inter-High  School 
Debating. — Those  who  have  come  into  close  touch  with 
inter-high  school  debates  appreciate  not  only  the  value 
of  the  training  which  may  be  gained  through  them  but 
also  the  justice  of  the  claims  made  by  thoughtful  ob- 


STUDENT   DEBATING   ACTIVITIES  475 

servers  that  too  often  these  debates  tend  to  develop 
superficial  thinkers  and  insincere  speakers  and  to  foster 
in  those  participating  in  them  deceit,  trickery,  and  dis- 
honesty. If  the  social  and  educational  possibilities  in 
inter-high  school  debating  are  to  be  developed,  the  fac- 
ulties of  the  schools  participating  must  co-operate  with 
the  students,  and  in  order  to  protect  their  students  from 
the  evils  of  inter-high  school  debating  they  must  deter- 
mine the  number  of  contests  which  the  students  may  hold 
only  after  the  faculty  has  approved  the  rules  under  which 
the  debate  games  are  to  be  played. 

Methods  of  Procedure  Needed  to  Realize  Social  and 
Educational  Possibilities. — A  critical  examination  of  the 
customary  methods  of  procedure  in  inter-high  school  de- 
bates will  reveal  the  following  weak  points:  the  meth- 
ods of  procedure  utilized  fail  to  give  the  student  body  a 
chance  to  accept  or  to  reject  debate  as  a  "school  activity" 
or  to  express  its  ideas  as  to  what  schools  ought  to  be 
challenged;  the  present  methods  of  procedure  fail  to 
give  the  students  participating  an  opportunity  to  study 
the  question  impartially,  to  debate  in  accordance  with 
their  convictions,  or  to  convince  any  one  that  their  con- 
tention is  right;  the  present  methods  tend  to  encour- 
age too  great  dependence  upon  the  debate  coach  and 
too  much  attention  upon  winning  the  decision  of  the 
judges;  and,  finally,  they  encourage  an ti -social  conduct 
at  debates. 

If  inter-high  school  debates  are  to  become  genuine 
interschool  contests,  the  student  bodies  of  the  schools 
participating  must  have  opportunity  to  accept  the  re- 
sponsibilities connected  (i)  with  determining  who  shall 
be  the  opponents,  (2)  with  the  choosing  of  debaters, 
(3)  with  approving  the  rules  of  the  game,  and  (4)  with 


476  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

financing  the  contests.  This  means  that  the  students 
interested  in  debate  should  very  early  in  the  year  come 
to  some  decision  among  themselves  upon  these  four 
points,  and  should  secure  the  provisional  approval  of 
their  plans  by  the  school  authorities,  who  should  give 
them  permission  to  present  to  the  student  body  the  ap- 
proved definite  proposals  concerning  each  of  the  above- 
mentioned  points.  The  time  at  which  the  students  con- 
sult the  authorities  concerning  debate  plans  for  the  year 
is  a  favorable  one  for  making  any  of  the  following  rec- 
ommendations which  may  appeal  to  the  reader  as  worth 
trying. 

The  suggestions  which  follow  assume  the  use  of  the 
triangular-debate  plan.1  This  plan  would  necessitate 
the  challenging  of  two  schools,  B  and  C,  by  the  students 
of  school  A.  While  schools  B  and  C  would  be  free  to 
choose  their  debaters  as  they  please,  the  student  body 
of  school  A  would  approve  a  plan  for  selecting  theirs  at 
the  above-mentioned  mass-meeting.  A  plan  which  is 
fair  to  all  concerned  is  that  of  allowing  all  students  inter- 
ested in  making  the  inter-high  school  debate  teams  the 
privilege  of  joining  a  "debate  squad"  which  in  its  rela- 
tion to  the  faculty  should  be  considered  a  student  de- 
bating club  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  such  clubs  as 
well  as  bound  by  the  obligations  of  such  societies. 
Among  these  obligations  is  that  of  choosing  a  faculty 
adviser,  such  choice  to  be  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
principal  or  the  superintendent. 

Selection  of  Question  and  Debaters. — The  choice  of  a 
question  should  be  left  to  the  students  from  whom  will 
be  chosen  the  debaters.  What  the  "squad"  of  school 
A  may  insist  upon  is  that  the  question  be  one  which 

1  Cf.  "  High  School  Education,"   C.  H.  Johnston  and  others,  250-1. 


STUDENT  DEBATING   ACTIVITIES  477 

they  have  had  an  opportunity  to  study  impartially  and 
upon  which  there  has  developed  in  the  "squad"  a  genu- 
ine disagreement.  Such  disagreement,  coming  as  a  re- 
sult of  an  impartial  study  of  the  problem,  will  naturally 
divide  the  "squad"  into  two  groups,  one  upholding  the 
contention  of  the  affirmatives,  the  other  that  of  the  nega- 
tives. By  the  time  the  question  has  been  officially  ac- 
cepted by  the  schools,  the  number  of  men  in  the  squad 
will  probably  have  decreased  until  there  are  left  the  men 
who  will  become  the  debaters  and  alternates.  As  the 
time  for  the  debate  draws  near  the  men  will  probably 
desire  the  adviser  to  make  the  final  selection  of  the  de- 
baters. 

Place  of  Debate. — To  do  away  with  the  intense  parti- 
sanship which  mars  so  many  debates  as  well  as  to  take 
advantage  of  the  inter-high  school  debates  as  a  means  for 
training  students  socially,  it  is  recommended  that  the 
debate  schools  B  and  C  be  held  at  school  A,  that  be- 
tween A  and  C  at  B,  and  that  between  A  and  B  at  C. 
According  to  this  plan  each  school  on  the  date  of  the 
debate  would  become  the  host  of  the  representatives  of 
the  other  two  schools.  Everything  in  the  power  of  the 
schools  acting  as  hosts  should  be  done  to  make  the  visits 
of  the  representatives  of  the  other  two  schools  as  plea- 
surable and  profitable  as  possible.  Our  students  need  to 
learn  both  how  to  entertain  visiting  teams  and  how  to 
be  entertained  when  members  of  such  teams.  A  great 
many  educational  values  which  might  be  realized  through 
such  visits  are  not  realized  to-day. 

Provisions  for  the  Debate. — To  provide  persons  for 
the  debaters  to  convince  it  is  suggested  that  the  authori- 
ties of  the  schools  in  which  the  debates  are  to  be  held  be 
requested  to  select  a  "jury"  of  twelve  students,  to  be 
chosen  because  of  their  intelligence  and   their  reputa- 


478  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

tion  for  fairness  as  well  as  on  account  of  the  fact  that 
they  have  no  decided  opinion  upon  the  question  and  no 
prejudices  for  or  against  either  schools  or  individuals  con- 
testing.1 These  twelve  should  promise  to  listen  carefully 
to  the  arguments  and  evidence  introduced  in  the  debate, 
at  the  close  of  which  they  are  to  conscientiously  report 
their  decision  on  some  such  form  as:  "After  having  care- 
fully listened  to  and  weighed  the  arguments  and  evidence 
submitted  by  both  sides,  and  taking  into  consideration 

only  those  arguments  and  that  evidence,  I  am  2 

the  resolution,  "3 

In  order  to  provide  for  giving  due  credit  to  argumenta- 
tion, it  is  recommended  that  a  judge,  a  capable  lawyer,  or 
some  other  person  qualified  to  pass  intelligent  judgment 
on  arguments  be  chosen  from  the  community  in  which 
the  debate  is  to  be  held  to  act  as  judge  of  briefs  4  and  of 
arguments  presented  in  the  debate.5 

In  order  to  provide  for  giving  due  credit  to  public 
speaking,  it  is  recommended  that  a  committee  of  repre- 
sentative citizens  of  the  community  in  which  the  debate 
is  to  take  place  be  chosen  to  give  a  decision  in  favor  of 
the  team  doing  the  better  public  speaking.6 

1  Responsible  members  of  the  community  may  be  selected  as  "jurors" 
if  this  seems  advisable.  Students  are  suggested  with  a  view  to  giving 
them  the  valuable  training  described  on-pages  472—3. 

2  Insert  either  in  favor  of,  or  opposed  to. 

3  Resolution  should  be  written  or  printed  in  full. 

4  Briefs  should  be  submitted  to  the  judge  on  argumentation  in  time 
for  him  to  give  them  careful  consideration  before  the  debate. 

6  The  judge  on  argumentation  might  also  be  requested  to  give  to  the 
"jury"  before  the  debate  such  instructions  as  might  be  necessary  to 
assist  them  in  making  intelligent  decisions  in  the  light  of  the  evidence 
which  may  be  presented. 

6  This  committee  should  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  a  debate  contest 
is  not  a  declamation  contest,  but  one  the  aim  of  which  is  to  develop  the 
ability  of  students  to  express  thoughts  which  they  have  carefully  thought 
out  but  the  form  of  which  they  have  not  committed  to  memory. 


STUDENT   DEBATING   ACTIVITIES  479 

Finally,  it  is  recommended  that  two  points  be  allowed 
for  the  decision  of  the  "  jurors,"  one  point  for  the  decision 
of  the  judge  on  argumentation  and  one  point  for  the 
committee  on  public  speaking,  and  that  the  team  re- 
ceiving three  or  more  points  be  awarded  the  victory.  In 
case  there  is  a  tie  vote  of  the  "jurors,"  it  is  recommended 
that  one  point  be  awarded  each  side. 

Difficulties. — One  difficulty  in  the  way  of  adopting 
the  recommendations  just  made  is  the  financial  problem. 
It  will  take  considerable  money  to  send  two  teams  away 
from  home  and  to  entertain  the  visiting  teams,  but  this 
will  probably  require  little  more  than  has  been  required 
in  the  past  to  pay  the  expenses  of  teams  and  of  judges. 
It  is  the  contention  of  the  writer  that  debates  conducted 
in  accordance  with  the  recommendations  offered  can  be 
made  of  so  great  educational  value  that  boards  of  educa- 
tion, if  the  matter  is  properly  presented  to  them,  will  be 
willing  to  bear  part  of  the  expenses,  while  the  student 
body,  since  it  has  voted  to  make  inter-high  school  debate 
a  school  enterprise,  may  be  counted  upon  to  see  that  the 
balance  is  raised  either  by  small  assessments  or  by  sub- 
scription. This  would  make  it  possible  to  have  the  de- 
bates free  entertainments  to  which  both  the  school  and 
the  community  might  be  cordially  invited. 

Would  students  attend  a  debate  in  which  neither  of 
the  teams  contesting  belong  to  their  school?  While  only 
a  trial  of  the  plan  proposed  will  answer  this  question,  it 
would  seem  that  if  the  student  body  had  voted  to  accept 
the  plan  and  the  responsibility  of  entertaining  the  visit- 
ing teams  it  ought  not  take  very  much  persuasion  on  the 
part  of  any  one  to  get  them  to  attend  the  debate,  espe- 
cially if  the  other  parts  of  the  programme  were  furnished 
by  the  best  talent  of  the  school. 


480  THE    MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

No  plans  for  the  reform  of  inter-high  school  debating 
can  be  successfully  carried  out  without  the  active  co-op- 
eration of  the  faculties  of  the  schools  participating.  The 
suggestions  which  have  been  presented  in  this  chapter 
require  such  faculty  co-operation.  The  opportunities 
offered  the  adviser  of  a  "debate  squad"  are  even  greater 
than  those  of  the  advisers  of  debating  societies,  since  his 
men  are  preparing  for  a  public  contest.  If  he  proves 
merely  the  old-time  debate  coach  who  gives  his  teams 
not  only  their  arguments  but  also  the  verbal  expression  of 
those  arguments,  we  shall  have  under  the  proposed  plans 
results  just  as  unsatisfactory  as  those  to  which  attention 
has  been  called.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  recognizes 
the  educational  possibilities  of  his  work  and  helps  the 
men  of  his  "squad"  to  do  such  foundation  work  as  will 
enable  them  to  work  independently,  the  situations  pro- 
vided in  the  suggested  plans  are  such  as  to  inspire  the 
men  to  put  their  best  efforts  into  their  work  as  well 
as  to  call  forth  and  develop  in  the  students  participat- 
ing not  only  knowledge  but  also  those  traits  and  abili- 
ties which  make  for  the  best  type  of  social  and  civic 
efficiency. 

Editor's  Footnote 

As  in  several  other  instances,  the  editor  requested  the  author 
to  formulate,  in  addition  to  his  ideal  scheme,  some  possible  grad- 
ual modification  of  the  method  of  procedure  now  general  and 
which  now  results  in  what  the  author  terms  "pseudo-debates." 
The  author,  however,  is  convinced  that  no  gradual  modification 
of  the  present  vicious  method  of  procedure  is  desirable.  He 
would  go  further  and  even  advocate  instead  of  such  a  policy  the 
temporary  discontinuance  of  inter-high  school  debating  until 
changed  conditions  make  a  radical  departure  from  present  meth- 
ods possible.  To  answer  queries  which  the  editor  thinks  will 
arise  in  the  minds  of  many  readers  he  appends  the  following 
author's  note: 


STUDENT   DEBATING   ACTIVITIES  4S1 


Author's  Note 

To  the  reader  who  has  not  studied  carefully  principles  of  social 
action  and  of  debate  in  life,  the  suggestions  offered  in  the  discus- 
sion of  inter-high  school  debates  will  probably  appear  "ideal," 
"radical,"  and  "impracticable,"  all  of  which  the  writer  admits, 
with  some  qualifications. 

The  suggestions  are  "ideal"  in  the  sense  that  they  embody 
principles  of  real  life.  Lack  of  interest  in  debate  on  the  part  of 
the  student  body  is  due,  to  a  great  extent,  to  a  neglect  or  disre- 
gard of  fundamental  principles  of  social  co-operation.  The  stu- 
dent body  has  been  appealed  to  at  the  wrong  time  and  the  appeal 
has  too  often  been  one  fundamentally  false.  Student  bodies 
have  been  begged  to  "come  out  to  support  those  who  were  to 
defend  the  honor  of  the  school  in  debate."  That  the  students 
feel  there  is  something  wrong  with  the  appeal  is  indicated  by  the 
way  in  which  they  come,  or  rather  fail  to  come.  That  they  have 
misconceptions  as  to  the  nature  of  the  support  which  they  ought 
to  give  is  evidenced  by  their  anti-social  conduct  at  the  debates. 
And  then  there  is  always  that  embarrassing  question:  "Who 
gave  the  debaters  authority  to  defend  the  honor  of  the  school?  " 
The  failure  on  the  part  of  those  interested  in  debate  to  secure  the 
approval  and  acceptance  of  the  student  body  of  their  plans  and 
purposes  has  resulted  in  inter-high  school  debates  which  are  such 
in  name  only,  while  their  failure  to  incorporate  in  their  procedure 
principles  of  debate  in  life  has  resulted  in  pseudo-debates  which, 
as  we  have  noted,  develop  superficiality,  insincerity,  and  anti- 
social tendencies  in  audiences  as  well  as  in  debaters. 

The  suggestions  are  radical  in  that  they  go  to  the  root  of  the 
difficulty.  We  have  suffered  from  misconceptions  of  the  true 
nature  of  debate  and  of  the  function  of  inter-high  school  debating. 
We  have  aped  the  colleges  here  as  elsewhere.  Unfortunately, 
college  methods  of  procedure  were  such  as  to  prove  harmful  to 
college  students,  while  when  transplanted  to  high  school  soil 
they  produced  an  even  greater  harvest  of  evils.  Educational 
laymen  are  awakening  to  these  evil  tendencies  which  are  thus 
briefly  mentioned  by  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  the  first  chapter  in  his 
"Chapters  of  a  Possible  Autobiography"  (Outlook,  No.  103, 
p.  406):  "Personally,  I  have  not  the  slightest  sympathy  with  de- 


482  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

bating  contests  in  which  each  side  is  arbitrarily  assigned  a  given 
proposition  and  told  to  maintain  it  without  the  least  reference  to 
whether  those  maintaining  it  believe  in  it  or  not.  .  .  .  There  is 
no  effort  to  instil  sincerity  and  intensity  of  conviction.  On  the 
contrary,  the  net  result  is  to  make  the  contestants  feel  that  their 
convictions  have  nothing  to  do  with  their  arguments.  ...  I  am 
exceedingly  glad  that  I  did  not  take  part  in  the  type  of  debate 
in  which  stress  is  laid  not  upon  getting  the  speaker  to  think 
rightly  but  on  getting  him  to  talk  glibly  on  the  side  to  which  he 
is  assigned,  without  regard  either  to  what  his  convictions  are 
or  to  what  they  ought  to  be."  It  is  time  that  we  go  to  the  root 
of  the  difficulty.     We  need  to  be  radical. 

Turning  to  the  third  criticism,  I  admit  that  conditions  in  many 
high  schools  are  such  that  the  suggestions  are  impracticable  at 
the  present  time.  In  such  cases  I  would  recommend  action 
which  would  so  change  conditions  that  within  a  year  or  two  the 
suggestions  could  be  easily  and  naturally  incorporated  into 
practice.  At  the  proper  time,  faculties  of  such  high  schools 
should  say  very  frankly  to  those  interested  in  making  arrange- 
ments for  inter-high  school  debates:  "We  believe  most  heartily 
in  genuine  inter-high  school  debates;  but  while  we  shall  be  glad 
to  do  all  in  our  power  to  encourage  such  debates,  we  are  deter- 
mined to  prevent  our  students  from  suffering  from  the  evils  of 
many  so-called  inter-high  school  debates.  We  shall  therefore 
allow  inter-high  school  debates  to  take  place  only  under  the  fol- 
lowing conditions:  (i)  when  the  student  bodies  of  the  schools 
concerned  have  approved  the  plans  and  have  accepted  the  re- 
sponsibilities connected  with  the  debate;  and  (2)  when  the  rules 
of  the  game  are  such  that  debaters  will  have  genuine  opportu- 
nities (a)  to  study  the  problem  impartially,  (b)  to  debate  only 
in  accordance  with  convictions  arising  from  such  preliminary 
study,  and  (c)  to  convince  'judges,'  'jurors,'  or  'commission- 
ers' who  return  the  'verdict'  that  their  contentions  are  right, 
just,  or  reasonable  and  are  to  be  accepted  in  preference  to  the 
contention  of  the  other  side." 

The  announcement  of  such  a  policy  would  probably  result,  in 
many  cases,  in  a  discontinuance  of  inter-high  school  debating  for 
a  year  or  two,  which  would  be  very  good  for  the  schools  con- 
cerned, since  it  would  give  them  ample  opportunity  to  concen- 
trate all  their  attention  upon  the  problem  of  developing  strong 


STUDENT   DEBATING   ACTIVITIES  483 

debating  societies  within  the  school.  Such  societies  under  the 
supervision  of  competent  faculty  advisers  will,  within  a  year  or 
two,  develop  (a)  a  number  of  skilful  and  sincere  debaters  who 
are  well  prepared  to  become  members  of  a  debate  squad,  (b) 
well-balanced  and  careful  students  capable  of  serving  as  non- 
partisan judges  or  jurors,  and  (c)  an  interest  in  debate  on  the 
part  of  the  student  body  which  may  be  counted  upon  to  encour- 
age debate  as  an  "all-school"  activity.  We  must  rely  upon  our 
high  school  debating  societies  to  develop  for  us  the  well-prepared 
debaters  and  the  sympathetically  yet  intelligently  critical  audi- 
ences absolutely  needed,  if  we  are  to  successfully  solve  our  inter- 
high  school  debate  problem.  It  is  the  steady  educational  work 
done  by  our  high  school  debating  societies  which  will  bring  about 
the  change  in  conditions  that  will  make  the  incorporation  of  the 
suggestions  into  practice  not  only  practicable  but  advisable  and 
natural.  Hence  the  space  given  to  the  problems  of  high  school 
debating  societies. 

My  attention  has  been  called  to  the  difficulty  which  would  be 
experienced  in  an  endeavor  to  put  my  financial  suggestion  into 
practice.  Here,  again,  I  believe  that  our  hope  lies  in  the  high 
school  debating  society.  Get  any  school  board  or  group  of  citi- 
zens intelligently  interested  in  the  work  of  our  schools  to  visit 
a  wide-awake  meeting  of  a  high  school  debating  society  under  the 
supervision  of  a  skilled  faculty  adviser.  You  will  have  little  diffi- 
culty in  securing  the  funds  for  your  inter-high  school  debate  con- 
tests if  you  show  them  clearly  how  such  contests  will  tend  to 
improve  still  further  the  debate  work  of  the  students  and  explain 
to  them  the  educational  and  social  values  which  can  be  secured 
through  such  contests. 

In  conclusion  the  author  desires  to  say  that  he  will  be  glad  to 
answer  any  personal  inquiries  sent  to  him  concerning  questions 
raised  in  this  chapter  or  note  and  to  receive  reports  from  those 
who  endeavor  to  put  into  practice  any  of  the  suggestions  offered 
in  this  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

HIGH  SCHOOL   JOURNALISM:   STUDYING  NEWS- 
PAPERS AND   UTILIZING   THE  SCHOOL  PAPER 

Merle  Thorpe,  A.B. 

PROFESSOR   OF   JOURNALISM,   UNIVERSITY   OF   KANSAS 

High  school  teachers  are  overlooking  a  valuable  asset 
by  not  making  an  intelligent  use  of  a  good  city  newspaper 
as  a  supplementary  text.  In  addition  to  the  cultural 
value,  it  would  seem  to  vitalize  the  work  in  all  courses; 
and  while  we  are  on  the  subject  of  high  school  journalism, 
a  discussion  of  the  school  papc*  is  in  order.  It  is  gener- 
ally considered  a  bugbear  by  faculties,  but  under  the 
skilful  direction  of  teachers  it  could  be  made  a  powerful 
educational  agent. 

I.      STUDYING   THE   NEWSPAPER 

Some  teachers  already  require  a  study  of  "current 
events,"  but  for  the  most  part  the  results  do  not  justify 
the  energy  expended,  as  the  work  is  not  systematized. 
The  usual  method  of  conducting  such  a  class  is  to  allow 
students  to  bring  in  haphazard  items  clipped  from  ran- 
dom newspapers.  Without  direction,  youth  is  apt  to 
place  more  value  on  the  news  that  a  cat  was  rescued 
from  a  telephone  pole  by  the  fire  department  than  on  an 
account  of  a  peace  treaty  between  two  world  powers. 
Crime  and  the  details  of  crime  too  often  submerge  the 
significant  news  of  the  day.     Indeed,  this  is  the  excuse 

484 


HIGH   SCHOOL  JOURNALISM  485 

generally  given  by  editors  for  publishing  "inconsiderate 
trifles" — the  majority  of  their  readers  makes  the  demand 
imperative. 

A  student  first  of  all  should  be  taught  to  read  the  news- 
paper for  significant  events.  His  reading  should  be  sys- 
tematized for  him.  Instead  of  the  haphazard  items,  the 
student  should  be  trained  to  look  for  the  most  important 
happening,  say,  in  national  politics,  appearing  in  to-day's 
paper.  One  member  of  the  class  may  consider  the  Presi- 
dent's charge  that  there  is  an  insidious  lobby  at  work  in 
Washington  to  be  the  most  important.  Another  may  ex- 
press his  opinion  that  the  administration's  views  on  "dol- 
lar diplomacy"  are  more  significant.  These  and  other 
opinions  will  lead  to  a  lively  discussion,  after  which  the 
class  may  vote  on  the  relative  importance  of  the  news 
items,  jotting  down  in  note-books  the  result.  After 
national  politics  have  been  discussed,  foreign  and  state 
affairs  and  news  of  the  scientific,  literary,  dramatic,  and 
religious  world  should  be  taken  up  in  the  same  way. 

It  will  be  found  that  the  student  will  take  a  keen  inter- 
est in  comparing  his  judgment  with  that  of  the  editors 
of  the  Literary  Digest,  Outlook,  arid  Independent  at  the 
end  of  the  week's  work.  Here  the  teacher  is  availing 
himself  of  the  strongest  incentive  of  youth — the  spirit 
of  contest.  He  makes  the  work  a  game.  To  the  suc- 
cessful teacher  the  plan  has  possibilities  of  variation. 
After  the  student  has  made  out  a  dummy  of  what  he 
thinks  ought  to  be  treated  in  the  week's  Literary  Digest, 
he  may  extend  his  view  over  the  month  and  compete 
with  the  editors  of  Current  Opinion  and  the  Review  of 
Reviews. 

The  value  of  the  information  thus  gained  is  apparent. 
University  students,  to  say  nothing  of  high  school  stu- 


486  THE    MODERN    HIGH    SCHOOL 

dents,  are  wofully  ignorant  of  what  is  going  on  about 
them.  They  are  not  only  provincial  but  pathetically 
ridiculous.  In  a  recent  examination,  members  of  a  soph- 
omore class  at  the  University  of  Kansas  thought  Gif- 
ford  Pinchot  a  senator  from  Oregon,  that  Bryan  was 
President  of  the  United  States  Senate,  that  Albania 
was  in  Asia,  and  that  Jane  Addams  was  an  actress. 

As  an  Aid  in  Teaching  Geography  and  History. — There 
is  another  value  not  so  apparent.  In  the  daily  paper 
before  me  there  is  an  account  of  the  recall  of  Ambassador 
Wilson,  an  editorial  charging  the  President  with  usurping 
the  powers  of  Congress,  and  a  Kansas  executive  advo- 
cating a  commission  form  of  government  for  the  State. 
What  an  opportunity  for  a  teacher  to  use  this  paper  in 
making  real  certain  chapters  in  civil  government!  In 
the  same  paper  is  shown  a  map  of  Europe  to  make  clear 
the  Bulgarian  campaign;  reference  to  various  Mexican 
cities  and  provinces  involved  in  revolution;  and  a  sched- 
ule of  the  stops  and  route  of  a  cross-continent  automobile 
path-finding  trip.  What  an  excellent  opportunity  for  the 
teacher  to  visualize  geography  and  history! 

As  an  Aid  in  Teaching  English  Composition. — If  there 
were  no  other  benefits,  the  value  to  teachers  of  English 
composition  would  justify  the  study  of  the  newspaper. 
In  addition  to  the  wide-spread  criticism  that  students  are 
not  taught  to  express  themselves  in  either  written  or 
spoken  English,  there  is  a  feeling  among  teachers  them- 
selves that  something  is  wrong  with  the  present  system. 
It  is  lamentably  true  that  a  freshman  in  college  fails  to 
show  the  results  of  a  four-year  training  in  high  school 
English.  Nor  does  the  university  seem  able  to  send  him 
out  four  years  later  equipped  to  express  himself  clearly. 

Rhetoric  in  college  and  in  high  schools  is  generally 


HIGH    SCHOOL    JOURNALISM  487 

looked  upon  by  students  as  the  most  disagreeable  of  sub- 
jects. The  English  teachers  have  felt  this  aversion  and, 
be  it  said  to  their  credit,  have  tried  to  make  the  work 
more  interesting — witness  the  two  hundred  or  more  texts 
on  the  subject  and  the  commission  now  at  work  investi- 
gating the  teaching  of  English.  I  believe  that  the  dis- 
like for  the  subject  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  approached 
from  the  wrong  side.  The  student  is  not  led  to  see  the 
rhetorical  principles  as  his  friends,  as  the  tools  with 
which  he  can  express  himself  clearly  and  forcefully  in 
conversation  and  in  written  discourse.  Another  reason 
for  the  student's  aversion  is  that  he  feels  that  rhetoric  is 
fit  and  proper  for  the  author  and  poet  who  are  to  write 
the  world's  masterpieces  but  a  lot  of  grind  and  rubbish 
for  the  ordinary  student. 

After  the  student  has  learned  to  discriminate  between 
the  froth  and  worth-while  news  material,  let  him  take 
note  of  the  means  by  which  the  workaday  writers  have 
made  themselves  clear.  Here  in  the  good  newspaper  he 
will  find  excellent  examples  of  description,  narration,  ex- 
position, and  argument.  In  this  well-written  "story" 
he  will  be  surprised  to  learn  that  the  reporter  has  had  re- 
course to  figures  of  speech,  to  negation,  to  inverted  sen- 
tence structure,  and  the  hundred  other  tools  found  in  his 
despised  rhetoric.  And  he  comes  to  admire  these  tools 
because  he  sees  them  doing  bread-and-butter  jobs.  He 
finds  them  enlisted  to  help  a  man  paint  a  picture  clearly 
and  faithfully,  to  put  an  opinion  forcefully,  to  arouse 
emotion  by  the  rightly  chosen  word  and  proper  sentence 
structure.  I  am  not  forgetting  that  many  imperfections 
are  to  be  found  in  the  best-edited  newspapers,  but  the 
goal  of  a  newspaper  is  to  make  itself  understood,  and 
nowhere  will  you  find  clearer  English.     Society  will  be 


488  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

satisfied  if  the  student  is  taught  clearness;  beauty  and 
force  will  follow  naturally.  The  teacher  must  be  ready 
to  point  out  the  well-written  stories  and  to  teach  his 
students  to  recognize  the  imperfections  of  hastily  writ- 
ten copy. 

Under  the  head-line,  "A  Poet  Mused  of  Eternity,"  the 
Kansas  City  Star,  before  me,  prints  the  following  tele- 
graph story  from  Indianapolis: 

The  sun,  which  had  shone  warm  and  bright  upon  James  Whit- 
comb  Riley's  anniversary  last  Monday,  was  hidden  in  gray  clouds 
yesterday.  There  was  a  dampness  and  chill  in  the  October  air. 
At  noon  a  friend  who  had  dropped  in  at  the  old,  tree-hidden  house 
on  Lockerbie  Street,  famous  the  world  over,  found  the  poet  sit- 
ting alone  in  his  study  before  a  bright  fire  of  sea  coal.  Clustered 
roses,  sent  by  his  friends,  shed  their  fragrance  through  the  dark- 
ened room,  their  petals  slowly  dropping  in  the  warm  air.  On 
every  piece  of  the  quaint,  old-fashioned  furniture  that  Riley  al- 
ways has  clung  to  lay  messages  of  congratulation  from  friends. 
A  sofa  was  heaped  with  letters  and  telegrams  that  told  of  re- 
joicing over  the  fact  that  the  poet  was  beginning  a  new  year. 
The  little  room,  as  always,  spoke  again  of  friends,  friends,  friends. 
And  before  the  dancing  fire  in  the  hearth  sat  Riley,  musing  on 
the  friends  of  yesterday. 

It  was  not  long,  in  the  silence,  before  he  repeated,  as  though 
half  to  himself,  those  lines  of  Walter  Savage  Landor: 

"I  warmed  both  hands  before  the  fire  of  life; 
It  sinks,  and  I  am  ready  to  depart." 

But  he  did  not  allow  the  beautiful,  melancholy  words  to  die 
out  without  a  more  cheerful  gloss.  "  Landor 's  old  age  was  un- 
happy, wasn't  it?"  he  asked.  "While  I—"  The  sentence  did 
not  need  completion. 

The  story  runs  on  for  a  column,  telling  of  a  motor  ride 
with  Mr.  Riley  and  the  poet's  ideas  of  eternity.  To 
point  out  the  perfect  blending  of  description  and  narra- 


HIGH  SCHOOL  JOURNALISM  489 

tion,  exposition  and  argument,  the  maintenance  of  tone, 
the  hundred  rhetorical  devices  used,  is  of  more  value  to 
the  student  than  to  commit  a  dozen  pages  of  rhetoric 
text. 

And  here,  in  another  paper,  is  an  account  of  the  John- 
son-Jeffries fight.  It  overflows  with  graphic  description 
and  stirring  narration,  brought  about  by  skilful  use  of 
rhetorical  principles.  There  is  room  for  only  three  para- 
graphs of  the  two-column  story. 

Reno,  Nevada,  July  4. — To-day  we  saw  a  tragedy.  A  tre- 
mendous, crushing  anticlimax  had  happened,  and  we  are  dazed. 
Some  15,000  of  us  went  out  and  broiled  ourselves  in  the  sun  to 
see  a  great  prize-fight,  and,  while  it  was  great  from  the  standpoint 
of  a  spectacle  and  from  the  courage  displayed,  it  was  in  reality 
no  fight  at  all. 

It  was  a  pitiful,  pitiful  tragedy.  Time  had  outwitted  the 
keenest  of  us,  and  instead  of  the  Jeffries  we  had  known  and  had 
come  to  think  was  still  among  us,  we  saw  the  shell  of  a  man,  fair 
to  the  eye  and  awe-inspiring  in  his  shape,  to  be  sure,  but  empty 
of  the  youth's  vigor.  The  spark  had  died.  The  years  had  done 
their  work.  No  fierceness  of  will,  no  gallant  determination  could 
fan  it  to  a  flame  again.     And  so  he  lost. 

Time  had  cunningly  hidden  her  work,  and  no  man  was  gifted 
with  the  sight  to  see  cold  ashes  that  lay  where  once  a  flame  had 
flickered.  It  was  a  cruel  lesson,  marking  as  it  did  the  inevitable 
march  of  years  and  age  and  the  waste  of  a  Godlike  heritage. 
While  in  actual  point  of  days  there  was  little  difference  in  the 
two,  the  negro  had  maintained  his  youth  through  a  life  of  exer- 
cise and  physical  care,  while  the  white  man  had  grown  heavy 
with  idleness. 

And  for  an  application  of  the  principles  of  argumen- 
tation or  persuasion,  where  could  a  better  example  be 
found  than  on  the  editorial  page?  Or  where  get  that 
lively  interest  that  comes  to  a  student  with  the  knowl- 
edge that  here  is  a  man  who,  in  urging  a  community  to 


490  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

action,  must  resort  to  the  rules  laid  down  in  his  English 
book  on  composition.  Pick  up  any  good  newspaper  and 
there  will  be  found  such  editorials  as  the  following  from 
the  New  York  Times,  practising  the  theory  of  the  text: 

The  concerted  action  of  the  police  against  the  annoyance  of 
beggars  in  the  streets  and  other  public  places  is  gratifying. 
There  has  been  entirely  too  great  laxity  of  late  in  this  matter. 
Street  beggars  are  almost  always  impostors.  They  ply  their 
trade  in  defiance  of  the  law.  Latterly  they  have  infested  not 
only  Fifth  Avenue  but  many  other  streets,  especially  Central 
Park  West  and  Upper  Broadway.  They  loom  upon  solitary 
pedestrians  out  of  the  shadows,  with  their  whining  pleas,  in 
which  may  be  often  detected  a  threatening  tone. 

Beggars  should  be  driven  from  the  streets  and  kept  away 
from  all  public  places.  The  police  always  attack  this  nuisance 
energetically  when  the  order  to  do  so  is  given.  But  they  are 
too  frequently  discouraged  by  the  magistrates.  There  is  a  pen- 
alty for  public  mendicancy  which  magistrates  should  enforce. 
It  cannot  be  politics  which  causes  many  magistrates  contemp- 
tuously to  dismiss  cases  of  this  kind  with  a  gratuitous  rebuke 
to  the  officer  making  the  charge.  It  may  be  sentimentality, 
some  of  our  magistrates  are  exceptionally  soft-hearted — or 
it  may  be  down-right  perversity.  Whatever  it  is,  it  should  be 
stopped.  Street  beggars  are  undesirable  persons.  They  are 
frequently  thieves. 

Indeed,  such  a  critical  study  of  rhetorical  forms  and 
methods  in  the  newspaper  will  not  only  prove  helpful  to 
the  student,  but  it  should  serve  to  invigorate  the  teacher 
himself.  It  should  keep  him  from  losing  sight  of  the 
fact  that  the  ultimate  purpose  of  teaching  English  com- 
position is  to  equip  students  to  use  intelligible  English  in 
every-day  speaking  and  writing.  Too  often  the  teacher, 
with  the  student,  forgets  this  and  looks  upon  the  instruc- 
tion as  a  training  for  the  composition  of  a  deathless  essay 
or  epic. 


HIGH  SCHOOL  JOURNALISM  491 


II.      UTILIZING   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL  PAPER 

In  general,  the  high  school  paper  is  a  plaything.  It  is 
brought  forth  in  ignorance,  both  on  the  part  of  the  faculty 
and  students.  In  too  many  cases  it  is  distinctly  harmful, 
in  that  it  presents  to  receptive  minds  low  ideals  of  humor, 
faulty  emphasis  on  news  values,  and  poor  standards  of 
business  methods.     It  is  a  waste  of  energy  and  vitality. 

Properly  directed,  however,  the  high  school  publication 
can  be  made  a  powerful  help  to  the  school  and  its  activi- 
ties. First  of  all,  it  should  contain  the  news  of  the 
school,  the  information  on  athletics,  debating,  oratory, 
social  affairs,  assemblies,  and  the  work  of  the  various  de- 
partments of  the  school,  such  as  accounts  of  unique 
experiments  in  the  sciences,  the  acquisition  of  new  appa- 
ratus, addition  of  new  courses,  changes  in  policy  or  direc- 
tion of  the  work,  and  the  development  of  different  courses. 

The  paper  should  also  contain  a  department  of  opinion 
and  comment  on  school  affairs.  Not  only  ought  it  to 
contain  the  opinion  of  the  paper's  editors  but  it  should 
invite  its  readers  to  use  this  department  for  healthy 
criticism. 

Nor  can  the  entertainment  side  be  ignored.  The  paper 
must  reflect  first  of  all  the  life  and  atmosphere  of  the 
school.  It  cannot  be  made  into  a  tract,  or  being  unread, 
will  fail  of  its  first  object — to  be  read.  But  there  are 
qualities  and  qualities  of  entertainment.  The  silly  per- 
sonal reference  should  be  eliminated.  The  humor  must 
be  in  good  taste.  The  best  literary  efforts  of  the  stu- 
dents should  be  sought  out  and  published.  A  bit  of 
clever  verse  is  desirable.  The  paper  can  encourage  stu- 
dents of  an  artistic  bent  by  giving  outlet  for  their  work. 


492  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  student's  aversion  to 
rhetoric.  The  high  school  paper  will  offer  golden  oppor- 
tunities to  the  resourceful  teacher.  Instead  of  dry-as- 
dust  exercises  "On  an  October  afternoon,"  "Why  I  came 
to  High  School,"  or  an  essay  on  "Truth,"  the  student  can 
get  practice  in  writing  descriptive  narration  of  a  football 
game,  a  chapel  speech,  or  a  school  rally.  And  he  will 
gladly  miss  his  dinner  to  do  it.  He  has  the  human  incen- 
tive of  seeing  his  creation  in  print;  he  is  dealing  with  life; 
he  has  the  desire  to  reproduce  faithfully  because  his 
effort  will  be  put  to  the  test  by  his  fellows.  With  a  well- 
defined  picture  in  mind  and  a  burning  desire  to  paint  it, 
he  feels  the  need  of  help.  When  assisted  to  find  the  pre- 
cise word,  the  well-turned  sentence,  the  value  of  sugges- 
tion, negation,  climax,  or  what-not,  he  makes  friends  of 
these  processes  at  first  hand.  He  learns  rhetoric.  And 
what  is  of  no  small  importance,  he  enjoys  it. 

Accuracy  in  observation,  accuracy  in  drawing  con- 
clusion, accuracy  in  expression  should  be  the  first 
and  last  commandments  of  the  high  school  journalists. 
The  gathering  and  the  writing  of  the  news  should 
be  conducted  on  as  accurate  a  basis  as  the  working 
out  of  a  problem  in  geometry  or  an  experiment  in 
chemistry. 

The  high  school  paper  has  boundless  opportunities  to 
further  the  best  interests  of  the  school.  Its  powers  are 
limited  only  by  the  ability  of  those  directing  it  to  grasp 
the  importance  of  their  trust.  It  can  unify  the  school 
by  discouraging  dissension  among  the  various  classes  of 
students  and  between  students  and  faculty;  it  can  pro- 
mote a  healthy  pride  by  emphasizing  the  good  in  school 
life  and  denouncing  the  bad;  it  can  promote  respect  for 
authority  by  not  treating  lightly  matters  of  discipline; 


HIGH   SCHOOL  JOURNALISM  493 

it  can  create  a  better  taste  by  avoiding  petty  gossip  and 
personal  inanities. 

The  social  significance  of  this  plan  is  apparent  to  the 
thoughtful  reader.  Such  a  study  of  the  daily  newspaper 
will  result  in  a  better  culture  because  of  the  wider 
information  and  broader  outlook  it  gives  the  citizens 
of  to-morrow.  It  will  serve  to  vitalize  the  class  work 
by  interpreting  the  text-book  in  terms  of  every-day  use- 
ful information.  It  will  apply  rhetoric  to  the  practical 
problem  of  clear  expression.  It  will  make  more  dis- 
criminating readers  of  newspapers  and  consequently 
create  an  insistent  demand  for  better  newspapers. 

Getting  the  Paper  Started. — In  getting  the  paper 
started,  the  faculty  will  have  a  twofold  problem  to  meet: 
first,  to  put  the  paper  on  a  sound  financial  basis,  and  sec- 
ond, to  make  it  efficient  editorially.  From  the  beginning 
the  paper  should  be  controlled  in  an  advisory  way  by  the 
faculty.  The  students  should  be  allowed  freedom  to  work 
out  their  own  policies,  but  under  the  direction  of  some 
older  head.  A  faculty  supervisor,  or  adviser,  should  be 
appointed,  preferably  some  one  who  combines  business 
experience  with  newspaper  training,  or  who  possesses 
either  of  these  qualifications.  In  his  hands  should  be 
left  the  entire  project. 

Selecting  the  Staff. — The  first  move  of  the  faculty 
adviser  will  be  the  selection  of  the  staff.  The  two  lead- 
ers of  the  different  divisions  of  the  paper,  the  editorial 
and  the  business,  should  be  named  first.  As  far  as  pos- 
sible, the  students  themselves  should  be  given  a  voice  in 
the  election  of  the  members  of  the  staff,  but  in  no  way 
should  the  success  of  the  paper  be  endangered  by  per- 


494  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

mitting  popular  but  weak  students  to  take  the  leading 
positions.  The  business  manager  should  be  appointed 
by  the  faculty  adviser.  He  ought  to  be  a  hard-working, 
intelligent  student,  who  shows  an  aptitude  for  business 
affairs.  The  election  of  the  editor  might  be  left  to  the 
senior  class  with  the  provision  that  the  candidates  meet 
the  approval  of  the  faculty  adviser.  The  class  could 
offer  from  four  to  ten  names  for  the  post,  and  these  could 
be  thinned  down  by  the  faculty  adviser  to  two  candi- 
dates, upon  whom  the  class  could  vote. 

The  selection  of  the  other  members  of  the  staff  could 
be  made  in  the  same  way,  or  be  appointed  by  the 
teachers  of  the  classes  they  represent.  A  working  staff 
should  consist  of  a  business  manager,  an  advertising 
manager,  a  circulation  manager,  an  editor  and  an  assis- 
tant editor,  reporters  for  each  class  or  roll  room,  the 
editors  of  the  various  departments  of  the  paper  such  as 
society,  sporting,  exchange,  debate,  literary,  humor,  and 
alumni. 

Duties  of  the  Staff. — The  business  manager  should 
have  charge  of  the  entire  financial  end  of  the  paper,  di- 
recting the  circulation  and  advertising  managers.  He 
should  be  responsible  for  the  funds,  and  should  make 
regular  reports  to  the  faculty  adviser,  who  should  audit 
his  books  from  time  to  time.  The  advertising  manager 
should  solicit  advertising,  gather  the  copy,  and  assist  the 
business  manager  in  collecting  the  bills.  The  duties  of 
the  circulation  manager  include  signing  up  subscrip- 
tions, keeping  accounts  of  the  circulation,  and  distrib- 
uting the  papers. 

The  editor  and  his  assistant  should  decide  the  policies 
of  the  paper,  plan  the  news  for  each  issue,  give  out  assign- 
ments, prepare  the  copy  for  the  printer,  write  the 
heads,  and  make  up  the  paper.     The  rest  of  the  staff 


HIGH    SCHOOL    JOURNALISM  495 

will  act  as  news  gatherers,  each  covering  some  special 
school  activity  or  some  classroom. 

Preparing  for  Publishing. — The  faculty  adviser,  the 
business  manager,  and  the  editor  should  decide  definitely 
the  size  and  general  typographical  characteristics  of  the 
paper.  A  convenient  form  would  be  a  three  or  four  col- 
umn quarto,  twelve  inches  long,  set  in  eight-point  type, 
leaded.  The  volume  of  the  circulation  should  be  esti- 
mated, and  with  this  information,  approximate  bids  on 
the  cost  of  the  printing  should  be  obtained  from  the 
publishers  of  the  city  or  the  town.  A  four-page  pam- 
phlet such  as  that  described  with  five  hundred  circula- 
tion, allowing  one  third  for  display  advertising,  should 
cost  from  eight  to  fifteen  dollars  an  issue.  With  this 
information  at  hand,  the  subscription  and  advertising 
rates  can  be  worked  out  to  insure  the  financial  success 
of  the  paper.  The  advertising  rates  should  not  drop 
lower  than  twenty-five  cents  an  inch  and  the  subscrip- 
tion rate  not  below  fifty  cents  a  year,  or  twenty-five  cents 
a  semester. 

Campaigning  for  Circulation. — The  faculty  adviser 
and  the  staff  should  make  a  vigorous  circulation  cam- 
paign, with  a  view  of  getting  a  subscription  from  each 
student,  each  faculty  member,  and  as  many  citizens 
and  alumni  as  possible.  An  assembly  should  be  held 
to  promote  the  plan,  each  member  of  the  staff  should 
be  enlisted  as  a  subscription  agent,  and  other  agents 
should  be  appointed  until  the  entire  field  is  covered. 
The  campaign  should  be  carried  on  briskly,  not  more 
than  one  week  being  given  over  to  it.  Enthusiastic  work 
should  bring  in  within  that  time  orders  from  every  pos- 
sible subscriber  in  the  field.  If  some  have  trouble 
raising  the  cash  at  the  time,  their  signatures  and  promises 
to  pay  should  be  taken  at  once  and  filed. 


496  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Gathering  Advertising. — Under  direction  of  the  faculty 
adviser,  the  business  manager  and  the  advertising  man- 
ager should  make  the  rounds  of  the  merchants  present- 
ing the  opportunities  of  the  paper  as  an  advertising  me- 
dium. A  rate  card  of  prices  should  be  made  out,  giving 
reductions  to  those  who  take  fifty  inches  or  more,  and 
this  rate  card  should  be  strictly  maintained,  no  cutting 
in  any  way  being  countenanced.  If  the  rate  is  fixed  at 
twenty-five  cents  an  inch,  the  contract  price  for  fifty 
inches  or  more  should  run  about  twenty  cents  an  inch. 
The  price  of  advertising  reading  notices  should  be  main- 
tained at  one  cent  a  word,  with  a  minimum  charge  of 
fifteen  cents.  An  effort  should  be  made  to  induce  each 
merchant  to  sign  a  contract  for  the  number  of  inches  he 
will  take  during  the  year. 

The  Physical  Appearance  of  the  Paper. — Care  should 
be  taken  to  have  the  paper  present  a  quiet,  neat  appear- 
ance. Bold-faced  type  should  be  avoided  as  far  as  pos- 
sible. On  account  of  the  size  of  the  paper,  small  type 
such  as  the  following  should  be  used  in  the  head-lines: 

For  News  Stories 

JUNIORS  WIN  HONORS  IN 

FIRST   ORATORY   CONTEST 

Eighteen   to  twenty  letters  to   a  line   (count   I   as  half 
space;   M  and  W  as  one  and  a  half  spaces). 

Seniors  to  Entertain  Faculty 

Three  or  four  short  words 

For  Feature  Departments 


WITH    THE   ALUMNI 


HIGH   SCHOOL  JOURNALISM  497 


III.    WRITING   FOR   LOCAL   PAPER 

Teachers  finding  it  inadvisable  to  start  a  school 
paper  might  enlist  the  support  of  the  local  editor  in  pre- 
paring assignments  of  town  or  city  feature  stories  for 
the  students,  or  the  better  students  might  be  given  news 
assignments.  The  teacher,  of  course,  would  "  read 
copy,"  and  thus  train  the  student  in  English  composi- 
tion. Writing  about  live  subjects,  the  student  has  an 
incentive  to  do  his  best.  This  is  necessary  in  creative 
work  of  any  kind. 

IV.    CONCLUSION 

Too  often  the  newspaper  editor  is  forced  to  the  de- 
fence: "I  must  give  my  readers  what  they  want.  I'm 
sorry  the  public  likes  this  kind  of  newspaper,  but  an 
economic  law  compels  me  to  furnish  it  the  commodity 
it  will  pay  for."  Better  newspaper  readers  will  make 
for  better  newspapers.  If  a  million  high  school  pupils 
were  taught  to  read  their  papers  with  discrimination, 
were  taught  to  distinguish  the  significant  from  the 
trivial,  to  place  a  ready  finger  on  opinion  in  the  news, 
to  regard  with  disgust  those  attempts  to  play  upon  the 
baser  emotions,  the  American  press  would  quickly  re- 
spond. 

And  herein  lies  the  social  value  of  a  study  of  the 
newspaper  in  the  schools. 


CHAPTER  XX 

HIGH   SCHOOL  FRATERNITIES  AND   THE   SOCIAL 
LIFE   OF  THE   SCHOOL 

John  Calvin  Hanna,  A.M. 

STATE  SUPERVISOR  OF  HIGH   SCHOOLS   OF  ILLINOIS,  FORMERLY  PRINCIPAL 

OF  THE  OAK  PARK  AND  RIVER  FOREST  TOWNSHIP  HIGH  SCHOOL, 

OAK   PARK,   ILL. 

The  Change  in  the  High  School. — At  first  sight  the 
character  of  the  high  school  in  America  would  seem  to 
have  changed  radically,  thoroughly,  and  in  almost  every 
particular  within  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years.  The 
remarkable  development  in  the  architecture  and  material 
equipment  of  high  school  buildings;  the  extension  and 
strengthening  of  the  courses  offered;  the  increased  prev- 
alence of  the  elective  system;  the  growth  of  many  sorts 
of  unofficial  and  semiofficial  activities  such  as  athletics, 
periodicals,  clubs — all  these  and  many  more  give  so 
striking  an  impression  of  change  and  contrast  that  a 
sincere  student  of  secondary  education  is  likely  to  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  high  school  is  not  only  im- 
mensely developed  but  that  it  is  totally  changed  in 
character. 

Signs  of  the  Change. — When  we  hear  references  to 
action  by  the  "high  school  faculty";  when  we  see  a  news- 
paper item  about  such  and  such  a  person  as  "dean  of 
girls"  in  the  Grand  Trunk  High  School;  when  we  know 
of  a  Shakespearean  comedy  or  a  Gilbert  and  Sullivan 

498 


HIGH   SCHOOL   FRATERNITIES  499 

opera  staged  by  the  class  of  191 2;  when  we  sec  head- 
lines discussing  the  action  of  the  board  of  control  of  the 
high  school  athletic  league  or  see  an  account  of  a  field 
meet  rivalling  in  descriptive  language  and  apparent  im- 
portance the  great  intercollegiate  gatherings ;  or  when  we 
know  of  a  five-thousand  mile  trip  taken  by  a  high  school 
football  squad  to  settle  a  championship — when  these 
things  are  brought  to  our  attention,  we  look  back  upon 
the  modest  little  high  school  of  the  seventies,  where  we 
sat  two  by  two,  in  a  room  up-stairs  above  the  "primary 
kids,"  and  studied  and  recited  lessons  in  algebra  and 
"analysis"  (perhaps  of  "Lady  of  the  Lake"),  in  Latin 
possibly,  and  a  little  English  history;  and  where  it  was 
considered  progressive,  indeed,  if  we  had  a  course  in 
Steele's  "Fourteen  Weeks  in  Astronomy  (or  Chemis- 
try)"; where  there  was  no  thought  of  class  organiza- 
tion or  rivalry;  where  no  one  dreamed  of  instruction  in 
orchestral  music,  stenography,  trigonometry,  domestic 
economy,  foundry,  pottery,  pure-food  testing,  swim- 
ming, basket-ball,  and  the  critical  study  of  Burke's 
Speech  on  Conciliation;  nay,  where  even  a  baseball 
game  was  a  thing  wholly  outside  of  and  unrelated  to 
school  and  where  a  victory  of  the  "Eastsiders"  over  the 
"Bughunters"  was  wholly  a  back-lot  performance  and 
never  even  heard  of  by  the  instructors — we  are  likely 
to  say  to  ourselves:  "Truly  this  is  the  people's  college 
in  more  senses  than  one."  The  activities  and  dignities 
of  the  modern  metropolitan  high  school  are  vastly  more 
complex  and  more  dignified  and  receive  more  official  rec- 
ognition than  those  of  Siwash  College  and  its  ilk,  as  those 
institutions  flourished  in  the  eighties. 

The  Change  only  Superficial. — And  yet  in  the  funda- 
mentals and  in  the  real  aims  of  secondary  education 


500  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

there  has  been  no  change.  An  extension  and  an  expan- 
sion, no  doubt,  but  the  essence  is  the  same.  The  child 
becoming  adolescent  is  separated  from  the  little  ones 
who  are  younger  and  is  put  in  a  school  by  himself,  to  be 
watched  and  guarded  and  trained  and  developed  through 
the  difficult  and  trying  years  of  adolescence  and  early 
youth  to  the  door  of  manhood  and  womanhood.  The 
problem  is  the  same;  the  material  is  the  same;  the  funda- 
mentals in  method  must  ever  be  the  same. 

Among  the  waving  banners  and  sounding  bombs  that 
at  first  seem  to  indicate  a  revolution  in  the  character  of 
the  high  school  none  is  more  conspicuous  than  the  high 
school  fraternity.  The  attitudes  and  ambitions  and  ri- 
valries of  the  Alfalfa  Delts  and  Eta  Beta  Pis  of  George 
Fitch's  creation  are  farther  from  those  of  the  present-day 
college  fraternity  than  they  are  from  the  eruptive  excres- 
cences of  the  average  high  school  fraternity  as  mani- 
fested in  the  first  decade  of  the  present  century. 

People's  college!  College  ideals,  college  ways,  college 
"student  activities,"  college  yells,  college  athletics,  col- 
lege banners,  college  parades,  "proms"  and  picnics,  col- 
lege functions,  festivities,  and  sports — all  these  seem  to 
come  forth  in  a  form  hardly  modified  in  the  "big"  high 
school  of  the  last  decade.  And  the  very  natural  conclu- 
sion is  that  since  these  things  have  grown  up  there  must 
have  been  a  real  demand  for  them  and  a  real  need  to  be 
satisfied.  The  logical  outcome  is  that  if  these  are  natu- 
ral growths  and  really  needed  they  should  be  encouraged, 
regulated,  and  utilized  rather  than  frowned  upon  and 
suppressed  and  done  away  with;  that,  for  example,  if  col- 
lege fraternities  are  useful  and  worthy  institutions,  cer- 
tainly high  school  fraternities  must  be  so;  in  short,  that 
the  latter  have  grown  up  to  supply  a  real  need. 


HIGH   SCHOOL   FRATERNITIES  501 

The  fact  that  a  growth  has  occurred  of  itself  does  not 
indicate  that  it  is  a  healthy  or  useful  growth.  It  may- 
be an  excrescence;  it  may  be  a  diseased  growth;  it  may 
be  a  noxious  weed. 

Example  of  a  Healthy  Growth. — Athletics  are  a  ne- 
cessity in  education  because  man's  nature  is  physical  as 
well  as  intellectual  and  moral.  The  relation  between 
each  of  these  three  and  either  of  the  others,  moreover,  is 
now  considered  a  direct  relation,  and  if  the  education  of 
the  child,  adolescent,  and  youth  is  to  take  care  of  his 
whole  nature,  the  physical  training  must  be  systema- 
tized and  controlled  as  definitely  as  must  the  intellectual 
training.  And,  in  addition,  the  justification  of  athletics  in 
school  life,  as  distinguished  from  calisthenics  is,  a  recog- 
nition of  the  instinctive  cry  of  the  youthful  soul  that 
itself  shall  see  its  training  directed  to  a  result  which  itself 
can  comprehend.  Therefore,  the  seemingly  remote  aim 
of  bettering  the  average  of  the  human  race  physically,  or 
the  strengthening  of  the  next  generation  so  as  to  prepare 
for  the  "yellow  peril,"  or  even  the  health  and  happiness 
of  the  individual  in  middle  life  and  old  age — these  do 
not  present  to  the  adolescent  mind  a  sufficient  raison 
d'etre  for  the  work  of  the  gymnasium.  The  game  in- 
stinct is  strong  and  it  can  be  and  should  be  utilized  to 
justify  to  the  mind  of  the  youth  his  physical  training. 

The  foregoing  is  an  interesting  and  convincing  ex- 
ample of  one  of  the  newer  school  activities  that  does  re- 
ceive and  should  receive  welcome  and  recognition  as  a 
satisfactory,  reasonable,  and  natural  demand  and  that 
is  not  by  any  means  a  mere  aping  of  college  activities. 

The  Imitative  Instinct. — The  imitative  instinct,  to  be 
sure,  is  still  strong  in  the  " teens"  but  by  no  means  as 
dominant  as  in  the  years  below  the  adolescent  period. 


502  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

The  solving  of  a  problem  for  itself  is  the  mightiest  im- 
pulse in  the  budding  soul  that  comes  to  our  hands  from 
"the  grades." 

Those  activities  and  manners  and  motions  that  are 
merely  imitative  in  character  and  origin  and  that  have 
manifested  themselves  just  before  this  period  are  likely 
to  slough  off  in  the  presence  of  the  new  and  commanding 
spirit  for  independent  solution  of  problems  that  is  born 
with  adolescence.  For  this  reason  playing  with  dolls 
and  wooden  swords  is  cast  aside  and  the  fourteen-year- 
old,  even  if  his  stature  is  small,  is  passionately  anxious  to 
show  that  the  imitative  instinct  no  longer  controls  him, 
or,  as  he  would  put  it,  that  he  is  no  longer  "a.  kid." 

I  have  given  an  example  of  the  newer  activities,  name- 
ly, athletics,  conspicuous  in  the  modern  high  school  when 
contrasted  with  the  old-time  high  school,  which  is  founded 
upon  and  grows  out  of  a  real,  vital  demand  and  which  for 
that  reason  cannot  be  and  should  not  be  ignored  or  sup- 
pressed, but  rather  encouraged  and  handled  as  a  scientific 
problem  and  a  proper  field  of  pedagogic  activity. 

Other  Legitimate  Activities. — Many  of  those  named 
above  as  challenging,  by  way  of  contrast,  the  attention 
of  one  familiar  with  the  old-time  high  school  are  of  this 
sort — are  legitimate,  important,  worthy,  and  deserving 
of  the  best  thought  and  encouragement  and  study  that 
we  can  give  them,  and  are  not  merely  excrescences,  imi- 
tative phases,  temporary  fads  destined  to  pass  away. 
Among  those  that  are  thus  important  and  that  are  be- 
coming essential  parts  of  high  school  education  are  ath- 
letics, class  organization,  clubs  with  legitimate  aims  and 
functions  and  democratic  spirit,  school  publications, 
dramatics. 

Errors  in  Imitation. — Others  of  them  are  imitative 
only  and  have  no  part  in  secondary  education.     Such  is 


HIGH   SCHOOL   FRATERNITIES  503 

the  idea  of  a  high  school  teaching  corps  as  a  faculty. 
This  is  purely  an  imitation  of  the  college  idea  or  rather 
a  misnomer  in  imitation  of  the  college  term.  I  doubt 
whether  the  administrative  and  disciplinary  relation  be- 
tween the  teaching  corps  of  any  modern  public  American 
high  school  and  the  individual  student  is  in  any  impor- 
tant degree  analogous  to  that  between  the  ordinary  col- 
lege "faculty"  and  its  students.  This  error  almost  de- 
generates to  the  insignificance  of  the  ludicrous  blunder 
whereby  a  sermon  addressed  to  the  graduates  of  a  high 
school  is  pompously  though  innocently  referred  to  as  a 
"baccalaureate  sermon."  Such  terms  as  "matricula- 
tion," "degree,"  and  the  like  would  be  inappropriate 
and,  of  course,  merely  imitative  if  used  with  reference 
to  a  high  school. 

Causes  for  Development  of  the  High  School  Frater- 
nity.— Others,  such  as  the  high  school  fraternities,  are 
imitative  in  their  titles,  insignia,  and  superficial  behavior, 
and  yet,  perhaps,  are  the  product  of  other  causes  operat- 
ing conjointly  with  the  imitativeness  which  has  been  de- 
veloped by  the  increase  of  colleges  and  universities  and 
the  proximity  of  many  of  the  later  ones  to  cities  where 
large  high  schools  have  grown  up,  as  well  as  to  the  fre- 
quency of  "meets"  and  "conferences"  and  other  occa- 
sions which  bring  high  school  students  into  familiar  con- 
tact more  or  less  frequently  with  the  outer  life  of  the 
colleges. 

In  order  to  understand  more  clearly  the  problem  of  the 
high  school  fraternities,  let  us  see  if  we  can  trace  some 
of  these  other  causes  which  operated,  along  with  the  re- 
maining imitativeness  left  over  from  childhood  to  ado- 
lescence, to  bring  them  into  being. 

The  Gang  Spirit  and  Its  Corrective. — The  gang  spirit 
belongs  to  an  age  rather  earlier,  say  from  ten  to  fourteen, 


504  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

and  lasting  over,  under  some  conditions,  into  the  real 
adolescent  period.  It  is  as  natural  as  is  any  manifesta- 
tion of  later  childhood.  It  is  developed  in  every  school- 
house  yard,  every  alley,  every  back  lot,  about  every 
swimming  hole,  and  has  been  so  developed  from  time 
immemorial.  "Tom  Sawyer  and  his  gang " — it  is  merely 
a  type,  and  truthful  because  a  type.  It  appears  among 
girls,  though  usually  the  groupings  are  less  aggressive 
and  less  coherent.  When  Hatty  twined  her  arms  about 
Emmy  Lou  and  said  "Le's  us  be  nintimate  friends,"  there 
was  presented  the  germ  of  the  gang  spirit.  This  is  a  nat- 
ural and  therefore,  in  its  beginnings,  a  healthy  tendency. 
It  must  be  recognized  and  welcomed.  These  groupings 
are  as  natural  and  as  inevitable  for  later  childhood  as  are 
grimy  fists  and  falsetto  screamings  for  the  same  period. 
And  no  one  of  these  is  a  curse,  nor  should  it  break  the 
mother's  heart. 

Each  has  its  corrective.  The  corrective  for  falsetto 
screamings  is  in  change  of  voice  and  the  ridicule  of  older 
boys.  The  corrective  for  fists  is  the  beginning  of  calf- 
love. The  corrective  for  too  intense  a  manifestation  of 
the  gang  spirit  is  twofold.  First,  it  is  in  the  fickleness  of 
childhood.  The  groupings  and  the  cleavages  change,  if 
left  alone,  from  year  to  year  and  sometimes  from  month 
to  month.  Those  intense  loyalties  and  affections  which 
persist,  such  as  are  touched  upon  in  Briggs's  immortal 
cartoons  on  "The  Days  of  Real  Sport,"  when  Fatty  (if 
that  is  his  name)  everlastingly  calls  for  Skinnay  to 
"Cm'  on  over,"  and  is  unhappy  even  while  playing 
hooky  if  Skinnay  fails  to  join  the  truants — -those  in- 
teresting and  persistent  attachments  are  not  manifest 
among  the  members,  generally,  of  "de  gang"  but  be- 
tween two  only.     They  are  among  the  most  interesting 


HIGH   SCHOOL   FRATERNITIES  505 

phenomena  of  childhood  and  youth  and  deserve  special 
study  and  a  monograph  of  their  own. 

But  the  gang  spirit  is  a  tendency  that  is  dangerous.  It 
should  not,  for  that  reason,  be  repressed  but  should  be 
given  direction  through  the  big-brother  method,  and 
should  be  left  to  form  integers  and  these  to  disintegrate 
from  period  to  period  as  they  will  if  left  alone. 

The  Hankering  for  Organization. — The  new  element 
that  enters  into  the  period  of  high  school  life  and  that 
is  likely  to  unite  with  the  remnants  of  the  gang  spirit 
and  to  crystallize  it  into  something  harmful  is  the  han- 
kering for  organization  that  begins  to  manifest  itself  at 
the  very  beginning  of  the  adolescent  period.  This  long- 
ing comes  to  the  surface  often  at  thirteen  or  fourteen, 
especially  if  exposed  to  the  influence  of  sixteen-year-olds, 
and  begins  to  take  a  violent  form  in  a  short  time  unless 
harnessed  and  utilized  for  legitimate  purposes.  When 
combined  with  the  imitative  tendency  and  the  general 
craze  for  insignia  and  self-decoration,  especially  of  a 
symbolic  sort,  and  when  given  a  semblance  of  real  life 
by  an  infusion  of  the  elixir  of  mystery,  then  this  hanker- 
ing for  organization  results  in  the  high  school  fraternity. 

Easy  to  Study  the  Development. — This  has  been  the 
history  of  this  growth  which,  starting  without  at  first 
attracting  much  attention  and  almost  unconsciously  to 
itself,  succeeded  within  a  few  years  in  growing  to  large 
proportions  and  in  accomplishing  evil  out  of  all  apparent 
proportion  to  the  causes  which  brought  it  forth.  The 
whole  period  of  this  growth  is  thus  seen  to  be  within  our 
immediate  view,  and  it  is,  therefore,  possible  to  make  a 
thorough  study  of  it  with  greater  ease  and  accuracy. 

A  careful,  discriminating  study  of  the  situation  will 
show  that  the  circumstances  which  brought  this  into 


506  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

being,  near  the  close  ot  the  nineteenth  century,  and  de- 
termined its  character  and  its  power  for  good  or  evil, 
will  show  a  vital  difference  between  the  environment  un- 
der which  this  phenomenon  appeared  and  that  which 
brought  into  being  the  college  fraternity,  of  which  it  is 
usually  looked  upon  as  a  direct  imitation  and  with  which 
it  is  frequently  confused,  especially  in  what  may  be 
called  "the  legislative  mind." 

The  Need  that  Called  Forth  the  College  Fraternity.— 
Attention  has  been  called  by  several  writers,  and  particu- 
larly by  Doctor  Frances  W.  Shepardson,  to  the  fact  that 
the  period  within  which  the  college-fraternity  system 
came  into  being — namely,  from  1820  to  1830 — was  con- 
spicuous for  the  development  of  individualism  in  Ameri- 
can society.  When  Robert  Burns  sang  in  the  lines  now 
so  familiar  to  us  in  sound  and  in  sense— 

"  The  rank  is  but  the  guinea's  stamp, 
The  man's  the  gowd  for  a'  that," — 

he  spoke  not  only  a  protest  against  the  tyranny  of  aris- 
tocracy, but  he  pointed  the  way  to  individualism,  and 
this  became  the  vital  spot  in  American  education.  No- 
body knew  that  it  was  the  vital  spot.  The  slow,  con- 
servative college  authorities  still  clung  to  the  fixed  cur- 
riculum. Electives  and  all  that  goes  with  them  came 
long  after — but  they  came.  The  germ  of  freedom  for  the 
individual  soul,  its  right  to  make  the  most  of  itself  in  its 
own  way,  these  were  manifest  among  the  college  students 
all  their  life  long  before  college  faculties  waked  up  to  the 
new  birth.  This  was  a  social  movement,  a  phase  in  the 
development  of  social  character.  Blind  though  it  was, 
unrecognized  by  even  the  wisest  of  wise  men  in  the  col- 


HIGH   SCHOOL   FRATERNITIES  507 

lege  chairs,  it  came  into  being — the  college-fraternity 
system — to  supply  that  imperative  need  of  college 
students  which  the  colleges  and  universities  have  even 
to  the  present  time  absolutely  failed  in  themselves  to 
supply. 

And  curiously  enough  that  imperative  need  was  cre- 
ated by  the  college  system  of  education  itself.  College 
life  is  artificial  and  not  natural.  Family  life  is  based 
upon  sex  and  the  helplessness  of  childhood;  therefore  it 
is  natural  and  will  persist  as  long  as  human  nature.  The 
school  is  a  special  institution  developed  and  maintained 
by  the  community  (which  is  merely  an  association  of 
neighboring  families)  for  the  purpose  of  performing,  in 
part  at  least,  more  conveniently,  economically,  and  ef- 
fectively certain  portions  of  the  function  of  the  family 
in  the  training  of  helpless  childhood  to  efficient  manhood 
and  womanhood.  The  State,  in  a  democracy,  steps  in 
to  control  the  activities  of  this  institution — which  is 
merely  an  extension  of  the  family- — so  as  to  provide 
citizens  capable  of  self-government  and  for  the  perpetu- 
ation of  the  State.  The  public  school,  therefore,  is  a 
natural  institution  and  merely  an  extension  of  the  family, 
controlled  for  self-protection  by  the  State. 

College  Life  Artificial. — But  the  college  is  artificial. 
It  continues  the  instruction  of  youth  and  professedly  fits 
them  for  the  responsibilities  of  independent  manhood  and 
womanhood,  but  in  order  to  do  this  under  our  modern 
system  it  calls  them  away  from  home  and  from  the  fam- 
ily ties  and  influences  that  heretofore  have  supplied  the 
social  education,  and,  although  it  provides  the  intellectual 
education  and  latterly  is  giving  a  little  attention,  in 
sporadic  fashion,  to  moral  and  physical  education,  it  has 
wholly  neglected  social  education.     The  youth  in  college, 


508  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

therefore,  so  far  as  anything  which  the  college  does,  is 
worse  off  in  this  particular  than  the  youth  who  does  not 
go  to  college.  The  latter  is  thrown  head  first  into  the 
world  in  which  he  is  to  live  and  learns  by  contact  with 
the  countless  social  institutions  of  that  world  how  to 
adapt  himself  socially  to  his  environment. 

But  the  college  youth  is  taken  from  family  and  family 
environment,  isolated  from  the  world  for  four  years,  con- 
fined with  hundreds  of  others  in  the  same  plight  and  left 
to  work  out  his  own  social  problem  without  guidance  or 
supervision,  except  to  be  disciplined  if  he  offends  certain 
conventions  more  or  less  reasonable.  These  are  the  con- 
ditions of  college  life  and  have  been  from  the  beginning. 

Under  these  conditions  and  because  of  these  facts  and 
to  supply  this  need,  otherwise  wholly  unprovided  for 
before  or  since,  the  college  fraternity  system  grew  up 
and  has  developed  and  strengthened  until  now  it  is  prev- 
alent in  180  colleges,  maintains  1,500  chapters  with  over 
30,000  undergraduate  members,  and  owns  property  worth 
$5,000,000.  Moreover,  it  has  exerted  a  lifelong  in- 
fluence, mainly  for  good,  upon  the  character  of  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  young  men  and  women,  many  of  whom 
have  grown  old  and  in  lives  of  usefulness  have  stamped 
upon  the  history  of  their  country  the  character-making 
influence  gained  largely  through  their  membership  in 
college  fraternities. 

College  Fraternities  and  Individualism. — It  was  very 
natural,  coming  as  it  did  in  that  period  of  the  twenties  or 
thirties,  when  individualism  began  so  strongly  to  assert 
itself  in  America,  that  the  new  social  system  springing 
up  in  the  college  world  should  largely  set  before  itself  as 
its  aim  the  betterment  and  advantage  of  the  individual. 
The  help  given  to  the  individual  brother  through  mem- 


HIGH   SCHOOL   FRATERNITIES  509 

bership  in  the  fraternity  was  the  key-note  in  all  these 
inchoate  organizations.  Every  one  of  them  has  that  in 
its  constitution,  its  ritual,  its  declaration  of  principles. 
The  fellowship  of  artificial  brotherhood  came  in  to  sup- 
ply to  the  lonely  freshman,  away  from  home  and  family 
ties,  that  which  he  had  lost  by  going  into  and  becoming  a 
part  of  this  artificial  and  one-sided  community.  And 
the  college  fraternity  thus  justifies  itself.  In  spite  of  all 
mistakes  and  extravagances  and  just  criticisms,  it  still 
has  been  and  is  worth  while,  and  should  not  be  abolished 
and  done  away  with  because  here  and  there  it  has  had 
a  drinker  or  two,  or  here  and  there  a  group  of  snobs. 
Drunkards  and  snobs  existed  before  college  fraternities 
were  dreamed  of. 

An  Earnest  Suggestion. — The  writer  craves  the  indul- 
gence of  his  readers  at  this  point  to  call  their  attention, 
whether  they,  like  himself,  are  believers  in  the  value  of 
the  college  fraternity  system  or  not,  to  a  matter  which 
he  believes  of  vital  importance  to  the  college  fraternities 
themselves  and  of  even  greater  importance  to  the  inter- 
ests of  higher  education  generally,  as  well  as  to  the  na- 
tional problem  of  self-government,  which  is  destined 
always  to  be  a  live  question  in  America.  Furthermore, 
he  believes  that  what  he  has  to  say  is  important  in  its 
relation  to  the  high  school  fraternity  question. 

Individualism  Giving  Way  to  Altruism. — Here  is  the 
matter.  The  view-point  of  the  thinking  mind  has 
changed  since  1830.  Since  that  day  altruism  has  taken 
hold  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men.  "No  man 
liveth  to  himself  alone" — the  weight  of  this  truth  is 
borne  in  upon  us  in  the  twentieth  century  as  never  before. 
" Apres  nous  le  deluge"  can  no  longer  be  the  comforting 
utterance  of  the  aristocrat.     Cain's  scream  to  his  in- 


510  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

quiring  Creator,  "Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?"  has  been 
answered  in  the  affirmative,  and  the  answer  has  sunk 
into  the  hearts  of  men  in  this  land  of  enlightenment  and 
is  shaping  their  thoughts,  their  words,  and  their  deeds. 

Whatever  individual  and  whatever  institution  in  this 
new  century  undertakes  to  meet  the  social  problem  of  the 
time  must  cast  aside  the  creed  and  code  of  the  first  mur- 
derer and  must  remember  that  spirit  which  is  embodied 
in  the  words:  "Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens."  For 
years  the  leaders  among  alumni  workers  of  the  college 
fraternities,  supported  and  inspired  by  the  character, 
utterances,  and  achievements  of  the  great  and  good  men 
who  have  grown  out  of  their  wide-spread  chapter  rolls 
from  the  fine  ideals  that  were  in  their  college  life  to  the 
finer  and  higher  ideals  of  service  to  which  the  call  of  the 
future  summons  them  and  which  in  an  increasing  degree 
is  responded  to  even  by  the  college  boys — these  leaders 
and  officials  have  set  up  a  new  standard  round  which  the 
college  fraternity  men  and  women  shall  rally,  on  which 
is  emblazoned:  "Loyalty  and  service  to  the  college  and 
its  ideals;  loyalty  and  service  to  the  fraternity  and  its 
aims;  loyalty  and  service  to  all  the  students  whether  in 
or  out  of  fraternities;  and  loyalty  and  service  to  our  coun- 
try in  whose  service  college  men  should  be  leaders."  If, 
and  in  so  far  as,  the  college  fraternities  rise  to  this  stand- 
ard, they  will  abide  and  will  fulfil  their  mission  and 
will  be  approved  and  utilized  by  authorities  everywhere. 
Otherwise  they  will  pass  away. 

Why  Not  Applicable  to  High  School  Fraternities. — 
Now,  these  are  high  aims  and  good  to  dwell  upon.  Why 
do  they  not  apply  also  to  high  school  fraternities?  Why 
should  there  be  a  distinction?  The  answer  is  not  far  to 
seek.     It  is  in  the  environment.     First,  the  college  fra- 


HIGH   SCHOOL   FRATERNITIES  511 

ternity  supplies  a  real  need — the  need  of  the  youth  away 
from  home  and  family  for  something  which  shall  take 
care  of  his  social  nature  and  supply  in  brotherhood  that 
which  he  had  at  home  in  his  family  and  which  he  has  lost 
by  leaving  home  and  going  to  dwell  for  four  years  in  the 
artificial  atmosphere  of  college  life. 

The  high  school  fraternity  does  not  supply  such  a 
need,  for  the  good  and  sufficient  reason  that  no  such 
need  exists.  There  is  no  absence  from  home.  There  is  no 
separation  from  family  and  all  its  ties  and  restraints  and 
protections.  There  is  no  lonely  student,  far  away  from 
mother  and  fireside,  thrown  too  young  upon  his  own  re- 
sources and  craving  and  needing  artificial  brotherhood 
to  supply  that  which  he  has  lost.  No !  The  high  school 
youth  is  at  home,  under  the  eye  of  his  father  and  the 
touch  of  his  mother,  with  the  sympathetic  companion- 
ship of  brother  and  sister  and  schoolmates,  with  whom  he 
has  grown  up  and  between  whom  and  himself  are  de- 
veloped a  thousand  social  ties  and  influences  supplying 
every  real  need  of  his  social  nature  and  protecting  him 
from  every  folly,  every  trouble,  every  embarrassment. 

The  forming  of  a  brotherhood  under  such  circum- 
stances is  a  rank  superfluity.  The  development  of  an 
elaborate  and  select  organization,  setting  apart  its  mem- 
bers as  hereafter  officially  and  permanently  chums — 
"No  others  need  apply" — is  absurd,  useless,  painful  in 
its  immediate  consequences,  and  most  serious  in  its  effect 
upon  the  member  himself,  whose  formation  and  shifting 
of  close  friendships  in  a  natural  way  from  month  to 
month  and  from  year  to  year  are  thus  interfered  with  on 
artificial  lines  and  with  no  good  purpose  to  serve. 

A  Machine  without  a  Work  to  Do. — All  of  the  super- 
ficial faults  that  at  any  time  appear  in  college  fraterni- 


512  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ties  appear  in  even  greater  degree  in  the  high  school  fra- 
ternities: extravagance,  false  sense  of  proportion  in  the 
estimate  of  the  relative  importance  of  things,  exclusive- 
ness,  snobbishness,  envy,  heart-breakings,  and  the  gen- 
eral artificial  unfolding  of  the  human  bud  before  its  time. 
Every  complex  machine  without  a  real  work  to  do,  and 
if  not  hooked  up  to  something  worth  while,  is  bound  to 
run  amuck  and  cause  wreckage. 

The  college  fraternities  have  found  lately  that  their 
interest  lies  in  the  direction  of  opposing,  rather  than  fa- 
voring, these  useless  imitations,  and  the  weight  of  their 
influence  from  this  time  on  is  likely  to  be  cast  against 
them. 

Testimony  of  School  Authorities. — It  is  the  universal 
testimony  of  high  school  principals  and  teachers  that 
where  fraternities  and  sororities  have  come  into  the  life 
of  the  high  school,  they  have  served  no  good  purpose 
that  could  not  be  better  served  without  them;  that  they 
have  added  nothing  to  the  possibilities  even  of  social 
pleasure  for  the  young  people  themselves;  that  they  have 
invariably  caused  much  pain  and  bitterness  in  the  stu- 
dent body;  that  they  have  in  many  cases  assisted  in 
developing  direct  evils  of  the  personal  sort;  and  that  they 
have  invariably  created  and  fostered  a  wrong  spirit  to- 
ward the  school  and  its  administration  and  best  ideals; 
furthermore,  that  when  they  are  once  finally  removed 
from  any  school,  a  great  change  for  the  better  has  re- 
sulted in  the  atmosphere  of  the  school  and,  moreover,  that 
all  the  social  advantages  are  secured  for  the  individuals 
themselves  as  readily  and  even  more  so  than  when  the 
fraternities  were  dominant. 

Hostile  legislation  has  been  enacted  against  them  in 
thirteen  States  and  in  many  cities  in  other  States.  In- 
variably the  attitude  of  the  courts  has  been  to  uphold 


HIGH   SCHOOL   FRATERNITIES  513 

the  authority  of  boards  of  education  in  suppressing  them, 
even  when  not  supported  by  the  enactment  of  special 
statutes. 

How  to  Eliminate  Them. — The  best  method  of  elim- 
inating them  is  a  serious  and  difficult  question,  the  answer 
to  which  may  vary  in  different  localities.  The  main  fea- 
ture is  the  education  of  local  public  sentiment,  and,  of 
course,  where  they  have  been  long  established  this  is 
often  a  slow  and  difficult  process.  Parents  are  pro- 
verbially blind  to  faults  in  their  own  children,  and  in  these 
days  the  child  and  his  opinions  too  often  rule  the  house- 
hold. Sane  discussion,  calm  and  convincing  statements 
are  more  likely  to  be  effective  in  creating  intelligent  pub- 
lic opinion  than  are  severe  methods  of  restraint.  When 
public  opinion  is  developed,  then  strict  rules  may  be 
adopted  and  enforced. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  writer  much  depends  upon  the 
general  relation  between  the  teachers  and  principal  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  pupils  of  the  school  on  the  other— 
the  "spirit  of  the  school."  It  is  possible,  with  great 
patience,  to  maintain  to  a  large  extent  relations  of  re- 
spect and  friendliness  between  the  teacher  and  the  pupil 
even  when  the  belief  of  the  teacher  that  the  fraternities 
are  evil  is  known  to  the  pupil.  And  sometimes  this,  if 
wisely  used,  may  lead  to  a  genuine  conversion  of  the  pupil 
himself. 

More  than  once  effective  service  has  thus  been  done 
through  pupils  themselves  who  have  been  led  to  recog- 
nize higher  aims  and  ideals  and  to  be  willing  to  sacrifice, 
for  the  sake  of  others  and  for  the  school,  something  of 
their  own  petty,  selfish  interest,  and  so  to  become  real 
missionaries  in  creating  among  their  fellows  a  healthy 
sentiment  in  favor  of  an  attitude  of  loyalty  to  the  school 
and  its  authorities. 


514  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Substitutes — Other  Activities. — "Satan  finds  some 
mischief  still  for  idle  hands  to  do."  It  behooves  the  wise 
school  administrator  to  develop  in  his  school  many  forms 
of  activity  that  not  only  will  occupy  the  studious  but 
those  less  so,  that  not  only  will  give  a  field  of  achievement 
to  the  individual  but  will  encourage  and  direct  the  for- 
mation of  natural  and  legitimate  groups  whose  member- 
ship shall  be  based  on  special  interest  and  activity  in  any 
given  direction  rather  than  upon  the  personal  preference 
of  those  already  members,  and  whose  aim  shall  be  the 
maintenance  of  some  legitimate  activity  naturally  con- 
nected with  the  school. 

Co-operation  of  Parent  and  Teacher. — Avowedly  so- 
cial gatherings  for  purposes  of  amusement,  entertain- 
ment, and  social  training,  handled  under  the  direction 
of  teachers  or  specialists  trained  for  that  purpose,  are 
attempted  with  success  in  some  places  and  are  likely, 
when  wisely  handled  and  watchfully  guarded,  to  supply 
the  recreation  which  otherwise  would  naturally  be  sought 
in  fraternity  parties  and  "hops."  The  question  as  to 
how  far  the  solving  of  this  problem  of  social  activity  and 
development  should  be  done  by  the  family  or  by  the 
community,  through  the  agency  of  the  public  school,  is 
not  as  yet  a  settled  question;  the  final  answer  must  come 
after  further  study  and  experimentation. 

The  main  feature  in  every  effort  to  meet  this  most 
difficult  of  social  problems  in  the  high  school  is  the  intelli- 
gent, harmonious,  and  sympathetic  co-operation  of  par- 
ents and  teachers. 

Need  for  Legislation. — It  ought  to  be  the  aim,  more- 
over, of  all  loyal  and  intelligent  citizens  who  are  inter- 
ested in  educational  improvement  to  secure  in  every 
State  the  enactment  of  statutes  forbidding  in  all  public 


HIGH   SCHOOL   FRATERNITIES  515 

high  schools  membership  in  such  organizations ;  and  such 
statutes  ought  to  be  enacted  discriminating,  on  the  one 
hand,  between  college  fraternities,  which  have  done  some 
harm  and  much  good,  which  have  a  genuine  mission  of 
helpfulness,  and  which  supply  a  real  need  that  can  hardly 
be  supplied  in  any  other  way,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  high 
school  fraternities,  which  have  done  practically  no  good 
and  much  evil,  and  which  have  no  real  mission  or  aim  to 
fulfil.  This  distinction,  based  on  so  manifest  a  differ- 
ence, is,  nevertheless,  hard  to  establish  in  the  minds  of 
some  legislators  whose  experience  has  given  them  no 
first-hand  knowledge  of  these  two  wholly  different  sorts 
of  organizations,  who  are  misled  by  the  similarity  in  the 
sounds  of  their  names  and  by  other  wholly  superficial 
indications,  and  who  are  sometimes  influenced  by  the 
ex-parte  arguments  of  selfishly  interested  persons  posing 
as  champions  of  democracy. 

The  Legal  Status. — -The  legal  status  of  this  question 
has  been  well  summed  up  in  published  articles  named  in 
the  bibliography.  The  courts  have  unanimously  upheld 
the  boards  of  education  in  all  cases  that  have  been 
brought  before  them.  Two  decisions  have  been  handed 
down  by  State  supreme  courts — namely,  those  of  Wash- 
ington in  the  Seattle  case  and  of  Illinois  in  the  Chicago 
case.  The  decisions  as  to  the  authority  of  boards  of 
education  to  punish  by  expulsion  violations  of  the  rules 
prohibiting  membership  have  been  made  only  by  trial 
courts,  but  supreme-court  decisions  in  other  cases  in- 
volving the  same  principle  would  seem  to  make  it  sure 
that  this  final  authority  would  be  supported  by  the 
courts  of  last  resort  if  any  such  question  should  finally 
reach  them. 

The  summing  up  of  the  legal  phase  of  the  matter  is  so 


516  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

comprehensively  presented  in  an  article  by  S.  J.  Wetter- 
ick  in  the  December,  1910,  number  of  The  World  of 
To-Day  that  it  is  quoted  here  in  full: 

The  principles  of  law  deducible  [from  the  court  decisions 
quoted]  are  these: 

First,  school  authorities  have  authority  to  make  all  reasonable 
and  necessary  rules  for  the  government  of  the  school; 

Second,  it  is  the  duty  of  pupils  attending  a  school  to  obey  its 
rules; 

Third,  the  right  to  attend  a  public  school  is  not  absolute  but 
conditional; 

Fourth,  the  right  to  attend  may  be  denied  for  a  violation  of 
rules  prohibiting  acts  that  are  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the 
school. 

If  it  is  admitted,  then  that  high  school  fraternities  are  detri- 
mental to  the  interests  of  a  school,  we  are  forced  to  the  con- 
clusion that  they  may  be  prohibited,  and  that  pupils  who  par- 
ticipate in  them  to  the  injury  of  the  other  pupils  and  the  school 
may  be  suspended  or  expelled  and  may  be  denied  any  or  all  of 
the  privileges  of  a  public  school. 


PART  IV 

ADDITIONAL  SOCIALIZING  FUNCTIONS 
OF  THE  MODERN  HIGH  SCHOOL 

CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  AS  A  SOCIAL  CENTRE 
Clarence  Arthur  Perry,  B.S. 

ASSOCIATE  DIRECTOR,  DEPARTMENT  OF  RECREATION,    RUSSELL  SAGE 
FOUNDATION 

A  Study  in  Educational  Evolution.— The  subject  be- 
fore us  is  one  of  educational  evolution.  The  high  school 
is  in  the  process  of  expanding  its  social  function;  it  is 
developing  a  new  and  more  immediate  relationship  with 
its  constituency.  The  present  stage  of  this  development, 
the  impulses  within  the  system,  and  the  conditions  in  its 
environment  which  are  producing  the  new  power  and 
its  future  relation  to  the  school's  prime  function — these 
are  the  general  aspects  of  the  theme  to  be  considered  in 
the  present  chapter. 

Extension  of  Public  Education  General. — In  the  be- 
ginning the  State  universities  instructed  only  the  stu- 
dents in  residence  on  the  campus;  to-day  their  extension 
departments1  are  reaching  out  to  the  utmost  confines  of 

1  See  "A  University  that  Runs  a  State,"  by  Frank  Parker  Stockbridge, 
in  World's  Work  for  April,  1913. 

517 


518  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  commonwealth  and  are  endeavoring  to  benefit  adults 
as  well  as  adolescents.  Through  its  kindergarten  the 
primary  school  has  recently  taken  in  a  younger  set  and 
through  its  evening  classes  it  is  bringing  in  the  grown- 
ups, while  the  secondary  school  has  not  only  got  hold  of 
the  men  and  women  but  it,  too,  is  making  overtures  to 
a  group  lower  down  in  the  age  scale  than  the  one  it  has 
traditionally  served. 

These  three  institutions  are  not  only  extending  their 
benefits  to  new  classes  of  persons  but  they  are  also  ren- 
dering new  kinds  of  service.  The  university  extension 
divisions  are  sending  out  material  for  debating  clubs  and 
social  surveys  as  well  as  the  lecturers  and  demonstrators 
with  which  they  began.  To  the  elementary-school  build- 
ing the  outside  public  is  increasingly  resorting  for  its 
games,  its  athletics,  its  entertainment,  and  its  social  life; 
at  the  high  school  it  is  finding  not  only  these  same  en- 
joyments but  the  illustrated  lectures,  theatrical  repre- 
sentations, and  art  exhibitions  which  its  more  spacious 
quarters  make  possible.  In  these  novel  and  more  direct 
relations  with  society  the  secondary  school  is  simply  fol- 
lowing the  trend  of  a  general  educational  movement. 

Present  Stage  of  the  New  Development.- — In  the  case 
of  the  university  the  evolution  has  reached  a  more  ad- 
vanced stage  than  it  has  in  the  lower  institutions.  Its 
extension  work  is  deliberately  planned  and  supported 
from  within.  But  in  the  public-school  systems  the 
newer  enterprises  are  only  beginning  to  emerge  from  the 
category  of  "outside  activities."  The  authorities  still 
permit  them  more  often  than  they  promote  them. 
Evening  classes  and  public  lectures,  it  is  true,  have  a 
recognized  status  in  school  systems,  but  the  position  of 
club  work,  quiet  games,  and  social  dancing  is  not  so 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       519 

fixed.  High  school  principals  have  a  well-defined  policy 
regarding  the  social  and  recreational  activities  of  their 
own  students,  but  their  attitude  toward  public  forums, 
citizens'  organizations,  and  outside  basket-ball  teams  is 
still  in  the  process  of  formation.  In  most  instances  where 
public  schools  are  now  used  for  popular  recreational  and 
civic  activities  these  are  administered  either  by  a  volun- 
tary organization1  or  by  a  separate  staff  directly  under 
the  city  superintendent,  and,  excepting  the  greater  es- 
teem shown  for  the  superior  accommodations  in  the  av- 
erage high  school  building,  little  discrimination  is  made 
between  it  and  the  elementary  school  in  the  selection  of 
edifices  for  the  "wider  use." 

High  School  Centre  Not  Yet  Differentiated. — That  the 
high  school's  function  as  a  social  centre  is  not  yet  con- 
sciously distinguished  from  that  of  the  elementary  school 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  heads  of  these  schools  have 
not  generally  been  made  responsible  for  the  various  ac- 
tivities which  constitute  the  new  relationship.  Whether 
the  local  playground  association  maintains  its  club  work 
for  young  people  in  a  large  building  or  a  small  one,  its 
characteristics  will  not  be  perceptibly  affected,  but  a 
high  school  staff  could  not  manage  such  an  undertaking 
long  before  it  would  display  different  features  from  those 
of  a  similar  one  in  the  hands  of  an  elementary-school 
organization.  When  the  extension  activities  begin  to 
emanate  from  the  two  institutions  themselves  their  re- 
spective spheres  in  this  respect  will  become  more  clearly 
defined.     And  if  the  transfer  of  the  initiative  to  the 

1  In  Boston  where  several  high  school  buildings  are  used  as  "Evening 
Centres"  the  first  one  (1911-12)  was  supported  by  the  Women's  Munic- 
ipal League.  During  the  season  of  191 2-13  four  such  centres  were  main- 
tained by  the  school  committee,  their  administration  devolving  upon 
the  "assistant  director  of  evening  and  continuation  schools." 


520  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

principals  can  be  made  without  losing  the  enthusiasm 
possessed  by  the  voluntary  organizations  or  the  particu- 
lar abilities  developed  by  the  special  board  of  education 
staffs  the  social-centre  function  will  have  a  better  oppor- 
tunity to  show  vigorous  growth  and  individuality  than 
the  present  arrangement  permits,  because  it  will  then  be 
freed  of  the  friction  which  must  always  exist  when  two 
bodies  with  differing  aims  attempt  to  work  in  the  same 
quarters. 

Basis  of  Future  Growth. — Differentiation,  however, 
only  marks  growth;  it  does  not  produce  it.  What 
grounds  are  there  for  believing  that  differentiation  will 
take  place?  Why  may  we  expect  to  see  the  new  social 
function  of  the  high  school  become  definitely  a  part  of 
the  responsibilities  of  the  principal,  to  be  consciously 
developed  and  expanded  by  him,  to  be  correlated  with 
the  work  of  his  faculty  and  his  students,  and,  finally,  to 
be  so  thoroughly  integrated  in  the  life  of  the  municipality 
as  to  give  his  institution  a  power  and  influence  now 
hardly  conceivable?  A  prediction  of  so  sweeping  a  char- 
acter can  find  a  rational  basis  only  in  the  existence  of 
permanent  forces  or  tendencies  which,  working  together, 
will  produce  such  a  result.  How  soon  it  may  be  realized 
no  one  can  confidently  say;  that  the  outcome  will  be  pre- 
cisely as  prophesied  no  one  can  guarantee;  but  that  the 
course  of  evolution  is  already  in  that  direction  is  a  fact 
which  needs  no  demonstration. 

The  Dominant  Forces. — The  fundamental  motive  fac- 
tors in  this  development  are  those  which  are  bringing 
and  will  increasingly  continue  to  bring  the  outside  public 
into  the  high  school  building  to  enjoy  its  facilities  or  its 
offerings.  These  are  of  two  kinds:  the  disposition  of  the 
high  school  organization  to  set  up  attractions  which  tend 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       521 

to  pull  the  public  in  and  the  social  conditions  on  the  out- 
side which  tend  to  drive  it  in. 

Principal's  New  Attitude  toward  Community. — The 
first  of  these  is  due  to  changes  in  the  principal's  conscious- 
ness of  his  relation  to  his  community.  The  tendency  of 
high  school  administration  is  to  place  more  and  more 
initiative  in  his  hands.  The  affairs  under  his  control 
have  become,  in  many  instances,  so  vast  and  so  complex 
that  it  is  a  practical  impossibility  for  the  city  superin- 
tendent to  give  them  intelligent  detailed  supervision. 
More  and  more  it  is  the  principal,  rather  than  the  au- 
thorities over  him,  who  selects  the  instructors,  lays  out 
new  courses,  plans  extensions  to  his  building,  and  who, 
in  the  final  analysis,  determines  the  amount  of  the  ap- 
propriation to  be  asked  for  to  maintain  his  school. 

It  is  his  increasing  control  over  the  school  budget  that 
is  causing  the  principal  to  think  more  and  more  about 
the  taxpayer.  Once  he  would  have  repelled  the  sug- 
gestion to  issue  a  printed  report  upon  the  work  of  the 
school  as  in  the  nature  of  tooting  his  own  horn.  In  those 
days  the  board  which  passed  upon  his  work  included 
some  of  the  best  minds  in  the  community.  Their  occa- 
sional inspections  enabled  them  to  decide  whether  or  not 
he  did  it  well,  and  their  favorable  opinion  was  all  he 
needed  to  strive  for.  With  the  advent  of  trustees,  who 
judged  the  success  of  their  schools  largely  by  the  public's 
reaction  to  them,  he  was  obliged  to  take  a  different  atti- 
tude, and  it  became  necessary  to  see  that  the  public  was 
adequately  informed  about  them.  Gradually  there  de- 
veloped the  policy  which  is  now  generally  followed  and 
which  involves  systematically  laying  before  the  high 
school's  constituents,  through  attractive  reports  and  the 
columns  of  the  press,  such  evidences  of  successful  en- 


522  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

deavor  as  may  be  found  in  student  productions,  college- 
entrance  examinations,  athletics,  debating  contests,  and 
the  careers  of  graduates. 

Encouraging  Direct  Enjoyment  by  All. — But  such  ac- 
counting of  stewardship  touches  mainly  the  alumni,  the 
parents  of  the  students,  and  the  leading  citizens — a  com- 
paratively small  part  of  the  community.  In  these  demo- 
cratic days  the  expenditure  of  public  funds  must  be  jus- 
tified to  all  the  people.  And  so  the  modern  principal, 
with  his  increased  financial  control  and  a  correspondingly 
increased  sense  of  responsibility,  is  being  compelled  to  go 
even  further  in  his  efforts  to  create  a  favorable  public 
sentiment  toward  his  undertakings.  He  is  discovering 
that  the  most  effective  way  to  convince  the  man  in  the 
street  of  his  wisdom  in  erecting  a  magnificent  auditorium 
is  to  bring  him  in  to  enjoy  it.  If  he  needs  new  equip- 
ment for  the  gymnasium  he  brings  the  taxpayers  into  such 
contact  with  the  situation  that  they,  too,  experience  the 
need  for  the  new  apparatus.  Student  exhibitions  and 
entertainments  have,  indeed,  long  been  provided,  but, 
although  open  to  the  public,  they  have  reached  mainly 
the  pupils'  parents  and  friends.  Now,  in  a  growing  num- 
ber of  places,  principals  are  encouraging  a  more  general 
use  of  their  auditoriums  by  arranging  for  popular  con- 
certs and  lecture  courses,  and  facilitating  their  utiliza- 
tion as  rehearsal  halls  for  choral  societies  and  the  place 
of  mass-meetings  for  the  presentation  and  discussion  of 
current  civic  problems.  They  are  beginning  to  give  their 
gymnasiums  for  the  evening  physical  training  of  outside 
young  people  and  their  classrooms  for  the  club  activities 
of  public-spirited  men  and  women — in  short,  there  is  an 
increasing  tendency  to  make  all  the  facilities  of  their 
costly  plants  directly  beneficial  to  the  individuals  out- 
side of  school  as  well  as  those  within. 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL  AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       523 

Most  Noticeable  in  Rural  High  School. — The  cor- 
relation of  this  tendency  with  the  principal's  sensitive- 
ness to  the  financial  implications  of  his  undertakings  is 
well  illustrated  in  the  case  of  the  new  type  of  rural  high 
school.  Coming  to  life  in  regions  little  accustomed  to 
such  luxuries,  confronted  by  traditions  opposed  to  liberal 
expenditure  for  public  service  of  any  sort,  and  in  the  face 
of  a  general  scepticism  as  to  the  value  of  higher  educa- 
tion, its  administrators  have  naturally  felt  an  urgent 
necessity  to  "make  good"  with  its  supporters,  not  years 
hence  when  its  graduates  could  show  their  mettle,  but 
immediately.  Accordingly,  we  find  the  modern  country 
high  school  not  only  opening  its  doors  for  all  sorts  of 
neighborhood  meetings,  entertainments,  illustrated  talks, 
exhibitions,  and  educational  institutes,  but  also  sending 
out  its  instructors  to  advise  with  farmers,  judge  stock,  or 
plan  crop  rotations;  putting  its  students  to  work  testing 
neighborhood  cows  or  selecting  fertile  seed  for  patrons, 
and  in  various  other  ways  directly  serving  its  constit- 
uency.1 Here  where  the  sense  of  responsibility  to  the 
community  is  keenest  the  secondary  school  has  gone 
furthest  in  its  conscious  development  as  a  social  centre. 

Force  of  Social  Conditions. — The  other  force  which  is 
more  and  more  bringing  the  public  into  the  high  school 
has  come  into  play  through  a  radical  change  in  method 
on  the  part  of  many  reformatory  and  uplift  agencies. 
Besides  attempting  through  moral  suasion  to  strengthen 
the  human  will  against  evil  choices,  they  are  now  trying 
to  improve  its  action  by  surrounding  it  with  more  means 
for  wholesome  expression.  Vicious  conduct,  they  say, 
is  resulting  from  bad  environments,  hence  they  are  en- 
deavoring to  substitute  good  environments.     Investiga- 

1  For  instance,  see  the  Eleventh  Biennial  Report  of  the  Superinten- 
dent of  Public  Instruction  for  Idaho. 


524  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

tors  find  that  the  inmates  of  the  brothel  are  often  re- 
cruited in  the  indecorous  dance-hall,  and  there  ensues 
an  agitation  for  social  dancing  in  public-school  buildings 
under  proper  auspices.  The  corrupting  effects  upon 
young  men  of  the  saloon,  pool-room,  and  other  gambling 
resorts  is  responsible  for  a  movement  to  afford  organ- 
ized games,  athletic  sports,  and  allied  forms  of  recreation 
in  school  gymnasiums  and  basements,  and  the  same  op- 
portunities are  demanded  in  the  interests  of  national 
health  and  vigor  because  of  the  lack  of  physical  exercise 
on  the  part  of  office  workers  and  others  leading  seden- 
tary city  lives — a  need  which  is  only  partly  met  by  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  similar  institutions.  The  extraordinary 
growth  of  the  motion-picture  theatres,  with  their  some- 
times questionable  entertainments  and  unsanitary  and 
immoral  environment,  has  produced  another  problem  the 
solution  of  which  is  sought  in  the  use  of  school  auditori- 
ums for  like  purposes.  The  city's  demand  for  wholesome 
opportunities  for  recreation  and  social  life  is  based  prin- 
cipally upon  the  need  of  substitution;  in  the  country  it 
is  the  scarcity  of  such  opportunities  that  is  responsible 
for  the  movement  which  is  demanding  a  more  extended 
use  of  school  property. 

In  the  political  world  the  continually  repeated  spec- 
tacle of  corrupt  boss  control  is  causing  wide-spread  ap- 
preciation of  the  need  of  meeting-places  which  will  invite 
a  loftier  and  more  general  discussion  of  platforms  and 
a  dignified  transaction  of  electoral  affairs.  When  pri- 
maries and  political  rallies  are  held  over  saloons  or  in 
halls  of  equal  unsavoriness  it  is  difficult  to  secure  the 
attendance  of  the  more  respectable  citizens.  The  result 
is  that  the  more  unselfish  elements  of  the  community 
are  not  represented  in  the  deliberations  and  choices  which 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       525 

determine  the  efficiency  of  governmental  machinery,  and 
the  men  who  make  politics  their  business  are  able  to  have 
things  all  their  own  way.  The  necessity  for  renting  halls 
also  adds  to  the  excuse  for  raising  campaign  funds,  with 
the  inevitable  feeling  of  indebtedness  on  the  part  of  the 
successful  candidates  to  the  individuals  or  special  inter- 
ests which  contributed  to  their  financial  support.  The 
experience  already  had  in  the  use  of  school  buildings  for 
political  meetings  and  balloting  purposes  tends  to  sub- 
stantiate the  arguments  advanced  in  its  favor.  In  the 
case  of  the  meetings  the  more  elevated  tone  was  partly 
due  to  the  increased  proportion  of  women  in  the  audi- 
ences, and  the  improved  atmosphere  at  the  school  voting 
places  was  helped  by  the  same  cause  where  woman 
suffrage  obtains,  the  probable  granting  of  which  in  other 
States  will  itself  give  emphasis  to  the  demand  for  the  use 
of  schools  for  these  purposes.  The  general  existence  of 
commodious  auditoriums  in  high  schools  gives  both  ap- 
propriateness and  insistence  to  the  movement  for  their 
more  universal  dedication  to  the  clarification  of  civic 
questions. 

Another  requisition  upon  school  halls,  plainly  marked 
by  the  spirit  of  the  age,  is  expressed  in  the  agitation  for 
free  lectures,  concerts,  municipally  subsidized  theatrical 
undertakings,  and  other  forms  of  State-supported  cul- 
tural opportunities. 

Reinforcing  this  demand,  as  well  as  all  the  others,  is 
the  economical  temper  which  animates  the  movement  to 
conserve  the  nation's  natural  resources  and  is  manifested 
in  the  various  schemes  for  "scientific  management." 
The  sight  of  costly,  magnificent  buildings  lying  idle  dur- 
ing periods  when  they  could  be  beneficially  used  is  re- 
pugnant to  the  business  sense  of  the  community,  and 


526  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

as  a  consequence  every  legitimate  appeal  for  their  more 
extensive  utilization  meets  with  a  quick  response  from 
public  sentiment. 

Doubt  as  to  the  reality  of  the  school's  increasing  role 
in  public  recreation  may  be  aroused  in  some  minds  by 
such  instances  as  Chicago's  park  and  playground  sys- 
tem with  its  luxurious  field  houses,  the  several  cities 
which  have  erected  auditorium  buildings,  and  the  rapid 
growth  of  municipal  baths,  parks,  and  museums.  These 
are  to  be  interpreted,  however,  only  as  evidences  of  the 
general  advance  of  the  recreation  movement.  In  its 
course  it  is  affecting  schools,  parks,  piers,  squares — every 
institution,  in  fact,  that  is  susceptible  of  application  to 
recreational  needs.  What  makes  it  certain  that  school 
property  will  be  universally  appropriated  is  its  unusual 
capacity  for  this  broader  community  use.  Auditori- 
ums, gymnasiums,  baths,  museums,  libraries,  play  fields 
— these  things  schools  need  for  their  own  purposes,  and 
the  people  are  providing  them  with  an  increasing  liber- 
ality. Is  it  likely  that  they  will  be  overlooked  in  the 
popular  requisitioning  of  facilities  for  enjoyment,  espe- 
cially in  view  of  the  fact  that  these  are  usually  idle  at  the 
very  time  when  the  people  are  free  to  use  them?  In  no 
community  is  there  yet  an  adequate  provision  for  recre- 
ation and  social  life,  and  even  if  all  the  future  parks  have 
field  houses  and  all  the  squares  be  converted  into  play- 
grounds, considerations  of  fitness  and  economy  will  still 
require  the  school  to  meet  a  large  part  of  this  need. 
Chicago,  despite  its  magnificent  system  of  parks  and 
recreation  buildings,  is  progressively  equipping  its  public 
schools  as  social  centres. 

More  Power  to  Principal. — At  the  present  time  there 
is  no  tendency  either  in  secondary  school  administration 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       527 

or  in  current  social  development  that  will  bring  about  a 
permanent  diminution  of  the  forces  which  are  increasing 
the  public's  immediate  enjoyment  of  high  school  facili- 
ties. The  growth  of  commercial  amusement  resorts 
seems  only  to  render  more  necessary  the  competition  of 
those  under  safer  auspices,  while  friction  with  the  regular 
school  work  produces  at  most  only  a  temporary  let-up  in 
the  outside  activities.  The  pressure  behind  the  latter  is 
continuous,  and  an  attempt  to  shut  them  off  would  create 
an  intolerable  situation.  An  examination  of  the  causes 
of  irritation,  the  misuse  of  equipment  by  volunteers  or 
the  board-of-education  staff,  the  public  criticism  of  badly 
managed  meetings,  or  the  annoyance  of  having  con- 
stantly to  decide  between  conflicting  requests  for  various 
facilities — these,  when  analyzed,  would  show  that  they 
were  all  due  either  to  a  division  of  responsibility,  inade- 
quate help,  or  some  other  defect  in  the  administrative 
machinery.  The  activities  themselves  not  being  intrin- 
sically illegal  or  socially  undesirable,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  highly  important,  the  remedy  would  obviously  be 
found  to  consist  in  providing  the  organization  necessary 
for  their  smooth  and  proper  direction. 

Accordingly,  as  these  situations  arise,  and  their  in- 
creasing inevitability  seems  guaranteed  by  all  the  ten- 
dencies of  the  times,  principals  will  point  out  that  with 
more  assistance  they  can  themselves  handle  these  mat- 
ters with  less  friction  and  more  efficiency,  and  eventually 
they  will  be  granted  the  requisite  additions  to  their  staffs. 
Even  in  the  cases  where  the  extension  activities  are  now 
carried  on  by  a  special  department  of  the  board  of  edu- 
cation or  of  the  municipal  government  the  frequent  col- 
lisions between  them  and  the  principal's  own  public  pro- 
grammes and  the  need — which  will  increase  with  the 


528  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

development  of  efficiency  standards — of  adapting  the 
former  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  school's  constituency 
will  ultimately  bring  about  the  combination  of  both  sets 
of  activities  under  the  local  head.  Thus  through  the 
very  growth  in  the  volume  of  the  high  school's  incidental 
activities  will  come  the  structural  change  required  for  the 
adequate  discharge  of  the  new  social  function. 

Development  of  New  Function  by  Principal.— The 
placing  of  social-centre  assistants  under  the  principal  will 
inevitably  stimulate  his  enterprise  in  this  field.  The 
natural  desire  to  retain  the  new  power  and  even  ag- 
grandize it  will  make  him  strive  to  justify  his  possession 
of  it.  Through  its  employment  he  will  be  better  able  to 
impress  the  public  with  the  usefulness  of  his  institution 
and  their  wisdom  in  giving  it  liberal  support.  When, 
however,  he  devotes  himself  thoroughly  to  the  task  of 
working  out  better  administrative  methods — an  unavoid- 
able necessity  because  the  social-centre  technic  is  still 
in  the  making — there  will  be  opened  up  to  him  a  new 
source  of  interest.  For  he  will  discover  in  the  extension 
activities  themselves  unsuspected  assistance  for  the  solu- 
tion of  the  new  and  perplexing  problems  which  society  is 
more  and  more  adding  to  his  main  function. 

Changing  Content  of  Public  Education. — The  agitation 
for  the  school  inspection  of  children's  teeth  has  not  yet 
accomplished  its  purpose  in  some  places,  while  in  others 
it  is  not  only  established  but  some  of  the  wisdom  which 
it  carries  in  solution  has  been  precipitated  in  the  form  of 
a  tooth-brush  drill  administered  by  the  teacher.  Herein 
we  see  a  new  phase  of  personal  conduct  becoming,  under 
the  influence  of  social  expediency,  a  subject  of  school 
training.  Not  many  years  ago  a  girl's  experience  in 
helping  her  mother  with  the  housework  was  considered 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL    CENTRE       529 

a  sufficient  preparation  for  the  responsibilities  of  house- 
keeping. But  industrial  and  urban  conditions  have  so 
changed  many  homes  that  that  experience  is  no  longer 
generally  considered  adequate,  and  the  school  has  been 
called  upon  to  supply  this  part  of  the  future  housewife's 
training.  Cooking  and  sewing  were  the  first  parts  of 
housekeeping  to  be  added  to  the  curriculum,  but  now  in 
many  systems  it  includes  laundry  work,  serving  meals, 
and  room  decoration.  The  extraordinary  extent  to  which 
formal  education  is  being  called  into  the  traditional 
realm  of  family  life  is  indicated  by  the  agitation  for  voca- 
tional guidance  and  sex  education  and  by  the  instruc- 
tion concerning  personal  expenditures  and  avocations 
already  being  given  in  some  schools.  An  example  here 
is  to  be  found  in  Mrs.  Farnsworth's  course  in  practical 
arts  for  girls,  which  is  outlined  in  "High  School  Educa- 
tion" (page  428).  These  instances  point  to  a  progressive 
extension  of  the  secondary  school  curriculum  until  it 
shall  comprehend  the  preparation  of  pupils  for  the  suc- 
cessful meeting  of  all  of  the  important  situations  encoun- 
tered in  human  living.  Practically  only  one  phase  of  life, 
the  religious  one,  is  now  omitted  from  its  scope,  and 
even  that,  so  far  as  its  applications  to  conduct  meet  with 
general  approval,  is  represented  in  the  schemes  for  moral 
education  at  present  projected  or  in  operation. 

The  pupil's  ultimate  success  is  dependent  not  only 
upon  the  possession  of  trained  powers  but  upon  his 
ability  to  co-ordinate  them,  upon  his  skill  in  arraying 
them  for  attack  upon  the  resistant  situations  of  life.  He 
may  graduate  with  honors  in  electricity,  but  if  he  is  un- 
able to  make  an  effective  presentation  of  his  case  to  em- 
ployers, has  not  been  trained  in  team-work,  or  has  not 
formed  the  habit  of  achieving  obvious  and  available  re- 


530  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

suits  he  will  be  a  failure  and  bring  reproach  upon  the  insti- 
tution which  hopefully  turned  him  out.  The  increas- 
ing esteem  in  which  vocational  courses,  especially  home 
economics  in  its  highly  elaborated  form,  are  held  by  both 
educators  and  society  in  general  is  undoubtedly  largely 
due  to  the  fact  that  they  do  effect  practical  syntheses  of 
abilities.  Similarly,  the  tendency  in  these  courses  to 
require  work  under  the  actual  industrial  and  domestic 
conditions  shows  a  growing  appreciation  of  the  necessity 
of  training  the  pupil  in  the  art  of  applying  his  powers. 
Even  more  significant  is  the  increasing  seriousness  with 
which  managing  glee  and  athletic  clubs,  society  presi- 
dencies, and  participation  in  other  "student  activities" 
are  regarded  by  school  authorities.  The  conspicuous 
after-success  frequently  achieved  by  the  graduate  who 
had  led  in  these  non-academic  affairs  has  caused  an 
examination  of  their  preparative  value,  and  it  is  being 
discovered  that  they  afford  most  useful  practice  in  the 
art  of  forming  social  relationships.  They  derive  their 
efficacy  from  the  fact  that  they  are  exact  facsimiles, 
slightly  reduced,  of  adult  social  functionings.  Skill  in 
"making"  the  miniature  organizations  was  bound  to  en- 
hance the  ability  to  "make"  the  bigger  groups  through 
which  the  affairs  of  mature  life  are  practically  all  trans- 
acted. 

The  success,  then,  for  which  society  demands  that  the 
high  school  shall  give  an  adequate  training  is  certitude 
in  the  ability  of  the  outgoing  individuals  to  make  vital 
connections  with  the  groups1  of  which  society  itself  is 
composed.     Development  of  all  the  pupil's  faculties  is 

1  See  further  amplifications  of  this  point  in  the  sections  which  follow 
upon  the  high  school  as  a  vocational,  social,  civic,  recreation,  and  cultural 
centre. 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       531 

not  enough:  he  must  be  adapted  for  group  life,  not  that 
he  may  lose  his  individuality  but  that  it  may  come  to 
that  fuller  realization  which  is  made  possible  only  by 
working  with  others  and  dividing  tasks. 

Pedagogical  Value  of  Social-Centre  Function. — The 
fact  that  social-centre  work  is  essentially  a  group-form- 
ing process  makes  it  immediately  apparent  why  the  high 
school  principal  is  going  to  find  it  of  value  in  connec- 
tion with  his  newer,  social  duties  to  his  regular  pupils. 
Hitherto  he  has  not  been  accustomed  to  think  about  the 
basis  upon  which  people  divide  into  sets,  cliques,  and 
societies,  but  in  supervising  club  activities,  basket-ball 
teams,  and  dancing  parties  his  thoughts  will  immediately 
be  engaged  by  that  problem.  He  will  find  new  generali- 
zations and  little  recorded  knowledge  by  which  to  guide 
his  steps,  but  as  he  tries  one  plan  after  another  in  the 
new  work  he  cannot  fail  to  accumulate  helpful  experience. 
The  social-centre  annex  will  be  a  laboratory  in  which  he 
can  experiment  without  endangering  his  main  work  with 
the  consequences  of  costly  mistakes,  a  place  where  he  can 
acquire  skill  for  the  moulding  of  the  social  destinies  of  his 
regular  pupils.  It  will  enable  his  instructors  to  gain 
practical  experience  in  the  fields  of  their  teaching  and 
bring  their  students  into  actual  contact  with  the  con- 
crete realities  underlying  the  abstractions  of  the  class- 
room. 

Further  explanation  of  the  social  centre's  applicability 
to  the  high  school's  latest  problem  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
fact  that  its  main  aspects — not  yet  all  equally  emerged, 
however — correspond  fairly  closely  to  the  lines  along 
which  the  natural  groupings  of  human  beings  occur. 
These  are  the  vocational,  social,  civic,  recreational,  and 
cultural  lines,  and  it  is  significant  that  they  mark  the 


532  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

principal  categories  into  which  the  achievements  and 
failures  of  men  and  women  fall. 

High  School  as  a  Vocational  Centre. — Only  he  who 
supplies  all  his  wants  with  the  products  of  his  own  hands 
has  a  vocational  problem  that  is  devoid  of  social  aspects. 
Every  one  else  has  to  find  persons  with  whom  to  exchange 
the  things  he  makes  for  those  he  wants.  The  task  of 
connecting  laborers  with  the  consumers  of  labor,  or  with 
bodies  standing  in  an  intermediate  relation  to  them,  has 
not  yet  been  undertaken  to  any  extent  by  systems  of 
public  education.  Some  private  institutions  systemati- 
cally endeavor  to  "place"  their  graduates,  and  universi- 
ties are  giving  the  matter  increasing  attention,  but,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  instances,  high  schools  have  not 
yet  assumed  this  responsibility.  Furthermore,  neither 
the  instructor  who  prepares  nor  the  principal  who  at- 
tempts to  "place"  a  student  has  become  sufficiently  con- 
scious of  the  fact  that  in  these  days  it  is  a  firm,  a  cor- 
poration, a  staff,  a  force,  a  corps,  a  bureau,  a  gang,  a  field 
party,  a  union,  or  some  other  kind  of  a  group  with  which 
their  charge  will  have  to  make  connection,  and  that  while 
his  initial  admission  may  depend  upon  his  satisfying  an 
individual,  his  permanence  therein  will,  in  the  long  run, 
be  determined  by  his  acceptability  to  the  whole  body  of 
which  he  forms  an  intimate  part.  Consciousness  of  pre- 
cisely this  sort  is  what  will  result  from  any  attempt  by 
the  high  school  social-centre  staff  to  fit  persons  into  posi- 
tions in  modern  professional,  commercial,  or  industrial 
life. 

Employment  bureaus  as  a  part  of  the  school's  social 
function  have  been  advocated  by  Professor  Commons 
and  others,  and  in  connection  with  several  social-centre 
undertakings   an   effort  has  been  made  to  furnish  in- 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       533 

formation  about  both  vacant  positions  and  jobless 
workers.  Nourishment  for  the  seed  thus  planted  is 
bound  to  be  afforded  by  the  attempts  to  render  a  voca- 
tional guidance  to  high  school  graduates,  as  it  will  be 
found  that  valuable  advice  can  be  given  only  upon  a 
much  larger  basis  of  information  than  is  at  present  pos- 
sessed. It  is  the  exceptional  youth  who  at  so  early  an 
age  sees  clearly  what  his  calling  will  be  or  whose  peculiar 
abilities  are  so  distinct  as  to  enable  others  to  decide  for 
him.  For  the  great  majority  the  final  determination  will 
be  made  only  after  much  experimentation,  and  many 
mistakes  will  be  avoided  and  much  time  saved  if  there 
can  be  some  official  to  whom  after  each  trial  he  can  freely 
go  for  advice  as  to  the  next  step.  Manifestly,  the  per- 
son most  suitable  for  this  office  is  one  to  whom  the  appli- 
cant's class  records  would  be  accessible.  The  data  in 
time  gathered  by  such  an  officer  would  not  only  make  his 
counsel  of  priceless  value  to  the  graduate  but  would  also 
have  great  significance  for  the  faculty  in  its  task  of  fit- 
ting young  people  for  advantageous  economic  connec- 
tions with  society.  While  such  a  service  would  be  jus- 
tified if  its  benefits  were  given  only  to  alumni  of  the 
school,  its  effectiveness,  even  in  serving  them,  might  be 
enhanced  if  it  were  open  to  the  public  at  large.1  It  would 
thus  receive  a  wider  knowledge  of  the  various  occupa- 
tional conditions,  have  more  experience  for  comparative 
purposes,  and  be  able  to  command  more  generous  sup- 
port from  the  State.  And  who  knows  but  that  out  of  its 
operations  there  might  finally  be  distilled  an  essence  that 

1  See  "The  Wisconsin  Free  Employment  Offices,"  a  bulletin  (vol.  II, 
no.  9)  of  the  Industrial  Commission  of  Wisconsin,  for  an  account  of  their 
workings  and  the  need  of  separate  provisions  (p.  218)  for  clerical  and 
skilled  workers. 


534  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

would  tend  to  quiet  the  troubled  waters  in  which  labor 
and  capital  are  now  immersed! 

A  Centre  of  Social  Life. — Adjustment  to  groups  for 
purposes  of  companionship  is  an  affair  in  which  the  aver- 
age young  person  seldom  attains  to  the  height  of  his 
opportunity.  And  yet  success  in  this  respect  is  quite  as 
important  as  success  in  any  other  phase  of  life.  For  evi- 
dence, one  needs  only  to  recall  the  acquaintance  whose 
career  has  been  changed  permanently  for  the  better  by 
joining  a  certain  club,  or  that  other  whose  reputation  has 
been  irretrievably  damagtd  through  association  with  a 
fast  set,  or,  still  more  convincing,  those  numerous  friends 
whose  futures  have  been  made  or  unmade  by  their  mar- 
riages. At  the  first  glance  it  might  seem  that  here  was  a 
department  of  life  in  which  no  rules  could  be  applied.  A 
little  reflection  reveals,  however,  that  any  province  of 
action  in  which  one  course  is  followed  with  evil  results 
and  another  with  good  is  amenable  to  generalization 
because  there  must  be  reasons  for  the  different  effects, 
and  where  reasons  exist  there,  sooner  or  later,  will  be 
found  material  for  the  teacher.  Young  people  who  are 
reared  in  homes  having  well-defined  social  traditions  cus- 
tomarily step  out  into  the  world  of  relationships  with 
assurance ;  but  the  example,  the  precept,  and  the  atmos- 
phere which  have  moulded  them  are  not  by  any  means 
universal,  even  in  the  habitations  of  the  rich,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  the  school  is  being  called  upon  to  supply 
the  deficiency.  The  private  school  has  already  begun  to 
give  a  definite  social  training  (see  the  syllabus  of  the 
Horace  Mann  School,  Section  IV,  Social  Relations  and 
Conduct,  vol.  I,  p.  439)  and  the  public  secondary  school 
is  about  to  follow  in  its  steps. 

Preparation  for  social  life  is  still  largely  a  matter  of 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       535 

ample  practice  under  wise  oversight.  Before  generali- 
zations suitable  for  impartation  to  students  to  be  ap- 
plied by  themselves  can  be  worked  out  much  observa- 
tion and  experimentation  will  be  required.  For  both 
the  practice  and  the  study  the  social  centre  offers  excep- 
tional opportunities.  In  the  undertakings  of  this  sort 
now  being  carried  on  conclusions  of  general  application 
are  already  being  reached,  but  so  far  they  are  mainly 
retrievals  of  the  mistakes  which  are  always  made  in  the 
beginning  of  novel  enterprises.  For  example,  it  was  felt 
that  extensions  of  social  opportunities  under  public  aus- 
pices must  necessarily  be  gratuitous,  open  to  all,  because 
the  public  pays  for  their  support.  It  is  now  seen  that 
making  them  free  to  all  tends,  in  effect,  to  limit  them  to  a 
part  of  the  public — to  those  persons,  namely,  who  are  not 
in  the  enjoyment  of  the  usual  social  relationships  and 
advantages.  People  associate  with  one  another  because 
they  enjoy  one  another's  company,  not  from  a  sense  of 
duty  or  any  other  form  of  compulsion.  Since  differences 
of  tastes,  manners,  creeds,  languages,  and  innumerable 
other  variations  prevent  everybody  from  liking  every- 
body else,  pleasurable  fellowship  can  only  take  place  on 
the  basis  of  groups  in  which  there  is  some  sort  of  com- 
munity of  feeling.  And  so  the  wise  social-centre  director 
is  now  dealing  with  coteries  and  cliques,  and  mainly  those 
which  are  self -formed,  because  the  business  of  dividing  a 
crowd  into  groups  which  will  stick  together  has  not  yet 
been  reduced  to  a  science.  Another  principle  which 
appears  to  be  emerging  indicates  that  groups  must  be 
allowed  to  have,  as  they  do  in  the  outside  world,  different 
scales  of  expenditure,  since  in  this  way  they  find  greater 
opportunity  for  distinctive  expression,  but  the  range  and 
limitations  of  this  principle  have  not  been  clearly  defined. 


53G  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

One  of  the  most  vital  of  the  many  problems  still  un- 
solved in  the  field  of  social  relations  concerns  dancing. 
The  obvious  inability  of  the  home  either  to  afford  it 
proper  opportunity  or  to  prohibit  its  occurrence  else- 
where, the  disastrous  results  of  the  laisser-faire  policy, 
and,  lastly,  its  probable  relevancy  to  that  most  important 
of  all  social  processes,  mating,  make  it  imperative  that 
the  school,  and  because  of  its  adolescent  relation,  es- 
pecially the  high  school,  endeavor  to  find  its  wise  solu- 
tion. 

The  addition  of  the  social  centre  will  not  only  facilitate 
the  giving  of  systematic  supervision  to  the  social  activi- 
ties of  present  students,  which  is  their  immediate  need, 
but  promote  their  deliberate  development  into  forms  less 
disfigured  by  an  undesirable  class  consciousness.  It  will 
be  able  to  do  this  because  of  the  wider  circle  which  it  will 
include  and  because  of  the  study  and  experimentation 
that  will  be  made  necessary  by  the  exigencies  of  the 
larger  and  more  difficult  undertaking  of  improving  social 
life  generally. 

As  a  Centre  of  Civic  Activity. — The  tremendous  im- 
portance to  our  civic  welfare  of  the  basis  upon  which 
electors  form  party  ties  needs  no  amplification.  And 
yet  the  method  of  determining  what  party  to  join  or 
when  to  leave  it  is  a  subject  comparatively  untouched  in 
institutions  which  the  State  is  supporting  ostensibly  for 
the  preservation  of  the  democratic  form  of  government. 
It  is  another  striking  evidence  of  the  lack  of  a  social 
view-point  in  our  systems  of  public  education.  A  com- 
plete treatment  of  the  manner  in  which  converting  the 
high  school  into  a  civic  centre1  will  remedy  this  defect 

1  The  civic  aspects  of  the  social  centre  are  fully  discussed  in  "  The  Social 
Center,"  by  Edward  J.  Ward.     D.  Appleton  and  Co.,  New  York. 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       537 

is  not  possible  in  the  compass  of  this  chapter,  but  a  few 
of  the  main  points  may  be  set  down. 

In  the  first  place,  by  opening  the  building  to  party 
rallies,  non-partisan  discussions,  primaries,  and  the  bal- 
lot-box, the  tone  of  political  activity  will  be  raised;and 
it  will  be  brought  under  the  eyes  of  the  students  where 
its  lessons  can  be  effectively  deduced  by  the  faculty. 
Again,  by  promoting  and  organizing  full  and  fair  discus- 
sions of  civic  questions  the  distinction  can  be  sharply 
drawn  between  groups  for  forming  opinion  and  groups  for 
securing  action.  The  institution  of  a  political  forum1 
in  a  public  school  is,  it  is  true,  a  perilous  proceeding  and 
one  which  can  be  successfully  carried  through  only  by 
those  possessed  of  the  greatest  tact  and  ability.  But  if 
success  can  be  attained  there  is  no  more  effective  way  of 
impressing  upon  the  minds  of  future  voters  the  need  of 
clear  thinking  before  and  separate  from  action,  and  thus 
restoring  some  badly  needed  idealism  to  American  politi- 
cal life.  A  basis  for  deciding  when  to  compromise  with 
personal  convictions  in  order  to  secure  results  and  when 
to  hold  out  at  all  hazards  can  be  developed  by  means 
of  a  systematic  observation  and  analysis  of  the  activities 
of  civic  clubs,  adult  or  otherwise,  miniature  congresses, 
and  local  improvement  associations  which  are  organized 
in  the  social-centre  department. 

The  instructional  value  of  holding  in  the  auditorium 
meetings  for  the  consideration  of  amendments  proposed 
for  the  State  constitution,  or  welcoming  ceremonies  for 
newly  naturalized  citizens  when  certificates  are  presented 
to  immigrants  and  addresses  are  delivered  by  the  mayor 

1  See  "Lessons  Learned  in  Rochester,"  by  Professor  George  M.  Forbes, 
a  bulletin  issued  by  the  University  Extension  Division  of  the  University 
of  Wisconsin. 


538  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

and  leading  citizens — this  needs  no  further  comment. 
How  they  will  vivify  the  images  received  in  the  history 
and  civil  government  classes  is  obvious  to  every  one. 

As  a  Recreation  Centre. — The  social  nature  of  the 
really  successful  forms  of  recreation  is  already  widely 
recognized.  The  predominance  of  team  games  and  com- 
petitions over  calisthenics  and  solitary  training  is  every- 
where evident.  The  high  school  graduate  of  to-day 
needs  no  admonition  to  join  a  club,  a  team,  or  some  other 
group  when  he  wishes  to  build  up  tired  muscles  or  remove 
the  cobwebs  from  his  brain.  It  is  true,  also,  that  the  reg- 
ular athletic  activities  of  the  average  high  school  give  its 
facilities  fairly  constant  utilization;  but  there  are  also 
pedagogical  advantages  to  be  gained  from  an  extension  of 
their  use,  so  far  as  possible,  to  individuals  outside  the 
student  body.  Through  the  opportunity  of  observing 
further  the  development  of  old  students,  the  school's 
regular  physical-training  staff  will  be  able  to  draw  useful 
conclusions  as  to  the  after-effects  of  the  several  kinds  of 
athletic  competitions  and  the  different  regimens  pre- 
scribed to  secure  proficiency.  Proclivities  whose  vicious- 
ness  was  hardly  distinguishable  in  adolescent  students 
will  be  seen  in  adulthood  in  their  true  character.  The 
instructors  will  also  compare  with  interest  the  physiques, 
sporting  standards,  and  moral  habits  of  graduates  and 
those  of  persons  without  a  secondary  education. 

The  fixing  of  amateur  ideals  among  the  students  will 
be  facilitated  through  the  mere  increasing  of  the  volume 
of  non-professional  sports  in  the  city,  and  in  the  same 
way  the  cause  of  clean  athletics  will  be  advanced. 
Those  of  the  faculty  interested  in  moral  training  will  be 
able  to  observe  the  working  of  various  rules  with  groups 
of  different  stages  of  culture  and  in  general  to  watch 
habits  of  fair  play  being  woven  into  the  warp  of  char- 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       539 

acter,  while  for  mankind  as  a  whole  there  should  come 
greater  progress  in  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  indi- 
vidual recreation. 

The  prediction  that  the  extension  activities  will  bear 
fruit  of  value  to  the  regular  curriculum  of  physical  educa- 
tion is  verified  in  New  York  City  by  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  group  exercises  developed  by  the  Public  Schools 
Athletic  League,  an  organization  to  promote  after-class 
sports  among  pupils,  have  been  incorporated  in  the  offi- 
cial course  of  study. 

Among  the  passive  agencies  of  recreation  are  to  be  in- 
cluded motion  pictures,  theatricals,  concerts,  illustrated 
lectures,  and  other  forms  of  mental  entertainment,  but 
since  these  are  so  intimately  related  to  cultural  activities 
in  general  their  treatment  will  be  reserved  for  the  follow- 
ing section. 

As  a  Cultural  Centre. — That  canon  of  art  instruction 
which  exalts  even  crude  versification,  so  it  be  animated 
with  genuine  feeling,  over  the  slavish  imitation  of  classic 
models,  will  receive  much  reinforcement  in  the  minds  of 
the  regular  students  from  the  efforts  to  socialize  the  cul- 
tural activities  of  the  community.  The  democratization 
of  art  proceeds  not  alone  by  popular  entertainment  but 
by  popular  participation  as  well.  The  great  masters  do 
indeed  inspire,  but  if  no  outlet  is  given  to  the  feelings 
thus  stimulated  the  transmission  of  the  art  movement  is 
stopped.  Accordingly,  in  this  department  of  the  social 
centre  there  will  be  continual  endeavors  to  arrange  liter- 
ary, musical,  and  artistic  programmes  in  which  ama- 
teurs generally,  rather  than  professionals  exclusively, 
will  take  the  active  part.  Local  dramatic  clubs,  for 
example,  will  be  encouraged  to  present  significant  plays, 
using  those  of  local  origin  whenever  these  attain  to  a 
feasible  standard.     Incipient  instrumentalists  will  be  or- 


540  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ganized  into  orchestras,  and  popular  choruses  will  be 
formed  to  give  a  musical  background  to  the  numerous 
lectures  and  general  entertainments  at  the  centre. 

A  very  effective  means  of  objectifying  current  life  and 
giving  it  a  common  meaning  is  to  be  found  in  the  pag- 
eant, especially  in  its  modern  form,  wherein  all  the  social 
forces,  which  have  made  the  community's  past  and  are 
now  making  its  future,  are  realistically  or  symbolically 
presented  in  a  moving,  spectacular,  out-of-doors  drama. 
In  the  case  of  a  high  school  favored  with  a  stadium,  like 
the  one  at  Tacoma,  such  an  event  might  fittingly  take 
place  upon  its  grounds;  but,  wherever  it  were  held,  its 
organization,  conduct,  and  leading  parts  might  very 
properly  be  undertaken  by  a  social-centre  staff.  Other 
occasions  calling  for  broad  activities  of  a  similar  order  are 
afforded  by  the  national  and  local  holidays.  The  effort 
to  make  the  observance  of  the  Fourth  of  July  not  only 
harmlessly  enjoyable  but  also  significant  has  of  necessity 
made  it  a  community  affair.  To  celebrate  properly  the 
nation's  natal  day,  May  Day,  and  Labor  Day,  it  is  the 
growing  practice  to  arrange  a  parade,  a  festival,  a  car- 
nival, or  some  other  city-wide  occasion  in  which  all  the 
elements  of  the  community  are  joyfully  fused  by  some 
magnificent  spectacle  resplendent  with  color,  jubilant 
with  sound,  and  redolent  of  patriotic  meaning.  The  or- 
ganization or  at  least  stimulation  of  and  participation  in 
such  events  as  these  come  within  the  proper  function  of 
the  social  centre,  and  they,  like  many  of  its  own  affairs, 
would  also  afford  excellent  outlets  for  the  athletic,  lit- 
erary, oratorical,  musical,  and  artistic  activities  of  the 
regular  high  school  students.1 

1  See  Chapter  XXII  for  an  account  of  a  high  school  which  has  become 
the  art  centre  of  a  community. 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       541 

The  debating  clubs  and  singing  societies  of  the  ward 
school  centres  might  be  organized  into  leagues  and  fed- 
erations for  the  purpose  of  holding  contests  or  tourna- 
ments, the  final  events  of  which — or  possibly  all  of  them — 
could  appropriately  be  held  in  the  high  school  auditorium 
under  the  auspices  of  its  social-centre  staff.  The  emula- 
tion thus  stimulated  would  quicken  and  refine  intellec- 
tual and  emotional  life  in  all  parts  of  the  community. 
The  informative  and  entertaining  power  of  motion  pic- 
tures could  be  increased  and  purified  if  exhibitions  of 
films  of  the  best  educational  and  literary  types  were  reg- 
ularly held  in  the  auditorium.  The  charging  of  a  small 
admission  fee  would  not  only  help  to  distribute  the  ex- 
pense more  equitably  but  tend  to  hold  the  management 
up  to  a  higher  level  of  efficiency,  while  the  extension  of 
the  market  for  films  of  a  high  character  would  give  a 
much-needed  stimulus  to  their  production  by  the  man- 
ufacturers. 

In  the  selection  of  subjects  for  lectures,  picture  exhibi- 
tions, in  the  planning  of  all  the  incidental  activities,  the 
special  needs  of  the  community,  whether  uttered  or  still 
unconscious,  should  be  borne  in  mind,  as  the  degree  in 
which  these  were  met  would  determine  the  amount  of 
patronage  and  support  the  offerings  would  receive.  Sim- 
ilarly, in  the  public-library  service,1  which  would  form  a 
part  of  the  social-centre  equipment,  the  books  and  lists 
displayed  could  all  be  related  to  the  current  topics  of  the 
times.  The  policy  of  thus  making  the  social-centre  facili- 
ties quickly  responsive  to  the  wants  of  the  community 
could  not  fail  of  a  fertilizing  influence  upon  all  its  expres- 
sional  activities.     Upon  the  minds  of  both  instructor  and 

1  In  this  connection  see  also  Chapter  XVIII,  "The  Socializing  Func- 
tion of  the  High  School  Library." 


542  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

pupil  would  be  continually  impressed  the  fact,  too  little 
appreciated  in  existing  systems  of  education,  that  art  is 
a  product  of  the  interaction  between  society  and  the 
individual. 

Differentiation  of  the  Social  Centre  in  High  and  Ward 
Schools. — If  the  educational  and  social  tendencies  which 
have  been  outlined  herein  are  real  and,  through  their 
reciprocal  action,  cause  a  development  along  the  lines 
which  have  been  indicated,  the  high  school  social  centre 
will  in  time  show  characteristics  plainly  distinguishing 
it  from  that  of  the  elementary  school.  Its  clientele  will 
probably  come  from  the  city  as  a  whole  or  at  least  a  large 
district  thereof,  and  it  will,  therefore,  serve  naturally  as 
the  centre  at  large.  In  athletics  it  will  tend  to  be  the 
place  where  the  matches  between  teams  representing 
social  centres  in  different  sections  of  the  city  are  held 
rather  than  the  place  for  the  regular  practice  of  neighbor- 
hood groups.  The  city-wide  basket-ball  tournament 
among  department-store  fives,  for  instance,  may  begin 
in  the  ward  centres,  but  it  will  probably  culminate  in  the 
more  spacious  gymnasium  at  the  high  school. 

In  social  activities  there  will  be  a  natural  selection  of 
the  participants  on  the  basis  not  of  locality  but  of  sim- 
ilarity of  tastes  or  purposes.  A  reception  to  a  person  of 
more  than  local  prominence  will  naturally  take  place  here, 
while  affairs  of  a  more  neighborhood  character  will  occur 
in  the  ward  school.  The  municipal  choruses,  the  mem- 
bership of  which  comes  from  all  parts  of  the  city,  will 
have  their  home  in  the  high  school,  and  here  the  great 
oratorios  and  more  pretentious  amateur  theatricals  will 
be  presented.  As  a  civic  forum  the  high  school  platform 
will  be  the  place  where  questions  of  the  municipality  will 
be  thrashed  out,  while  in  the  ward  school  the  local  im- 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       543 

provements  will  be  the  more  pertinent  subjects  for  dis- 
cussion. Lectures  and  other  occasions  of  a  cultural  na- 
ture which  appeal  to  highly  developed  tastes  and  abilities 
will  find  their  home  in  the  high  school  auditorium,  as  well 
as  those  of  a  more  general  import.  The  facilities  and 
need  for  study  and  experimentation  possessed  by  the 
faculty  of  the  secondary  school  will  tend  to  make  it  a 
social  and  civic  laboratory,  while  the  activity  of  the  ward 
school  staff  will  be  mainly  that  of  administration. 

Steps  Immediately  Practical. — In  advance  of  the 
granting  to  the  high  school  organization  of  the  adminis- 
trative machinery  which  would  be  required  for  the  com- 
prehensive plan  that  has  been  sketched,  there  are  certain 
feasible  steps  by  which  a  beginning  can  be  made.  The 
first  of  these  is  the  adoption  of  a  definite  policy  in  favor 
of  the  social-centre  activities.  One  of  the  ways  in  which 
such  an  attitude  would  first  manifest  itself  would  be  in 
arrangements  whereby  some  of  the  regular  staff  could 
assist  with  the  extension  work.1  For  example,  the  phys- 
ical-training director  would  probably  be  willing,  for  a 
slight  additional  compensation,  to  give  some  time  to  the 
development  of  athletics  among  the  youths  who  attend 
the  evening  high  school.  The  woman  in  charge  of  the 
girls'  physical  education  could  probably  find  time  for 
some  instruction  in  folk  dancing  for  the  young  women 
from  stores  and  factories. 

As  soon  as  possible,  of  course,  an  assistant  should  be 
appointed  who  could  give  time  and  thought  to  the  de- 
velopment and  management  of  all  the  social-centre  ac- 
tivities. Such  an  official  would  be  able  to  obtain  much 
assistance  from  voluntary   organizations  interested   in 

1  In  the  Los  Angeles  High  School  the  night  school  and  the  social  centre 
have  been  placed  under  one  head. 


544  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

social  welfare,  or  if  there  happened  to  be  none  available, 
he  might  himself  well  undertake  the  promotion  of  one 
among  some  of  the  more  prominent  citizens.  With  the 
sympathy  and  aid  of  the  school  authorities  behind  him, 
he  might  find  among  the  faculty  some  volunteers  for 
club  work,  chaperonage,  and  other  supervisory  duties. 
The  policy  of  organizing  self-supporting  activities  would, 
in  time,  enable  an  extension  of  the  social-centre  force. 
Motion-picture  shows,  social  dancing,  club  memberships, 
and  entertainments,  if  properly  managed,  can  all  be 
made  to  give  an  income  which  could  be  applied  to  the 
maintenance  of  these  and  similar  activities. 

In  the  inauguration  of  new  and  unusual  uses  of  the 
schoolhouse,  the  wise  director  will  give  considerable 
thought  to  the  inculcation  in  the  minds  of  the  incoming 
public  of  the  right  ways  of  using  the  school  building. 
When  the  political  meetings  were  first  held  in  the  Jersey 
City  High  School  careful  directions  about  the  proper 
exits  and  ingresses  were  published  in  the  papers  and  dis- 
seminated by  means  of  handbills.  Sometimes,  on  such 
occasions,  admission  is  only  by  ticket,  a  method  which 
has  the  advantage  of  limiting  the  crowd  and  assuring  the 
selection  of  the  right  people.  A  clear  statement  of  the 
various  privileges  and  prohibitions  at  the  outset  will  pre- 
vent much  friction  later.  It  is  always  difficult  to  enforce 
rules  which  have  not  been  well  promulgated. 

Conclusion. — The  preparation  for  life's  struggles  which 
boys  and  girls  received  at  home  in  the  period  before  the 
industries  had  departed  from  it  is  still  extolled  by  stu- 
dents of  education.  In  those  rural  days  the  boy  worked 
beside  his  father,  observed  and  imitated  him  in  the  per- 
formance of  an  infinitely  varied  round  of  tasks.  Every 
lesson   learned   was  inseparably   associated  with   some 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE       545 

difficulty  of  vital  importance  which  the  lad  himself  had 
experienced.  No  sooner  had  one  responsibility  found  a 
secure  place  upon  his  shoulders  than  another  and  bigger 
one  slipped  into  position  ready  for  their  squaring.  Edu- 
cation was  a  growing  rather  than  a  forcing  process  be- 
cause it  took  place  in  the  midst  of  a  real  life  and  was  a 
natural  part  of  it. 

Is  it  beyond  the  realm  of  possibility  that  the  high 
school  will  some  day  be  the  scene  of  so  much  of  the  city's 
social  and  civic  life  that  the  youth  reared  therein,  inti- 
mately associated  with  the  leaders  and  helping  to  bear 
their  burdens,  will  receive  a  training  for  citizenship  to 
which  future  historians  will  be  able  to  award  an  equal 
meed  of  praise? 


CHAPTER  XXII 

CONTINUATION  WORK  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

Calvin  Olin  Davis,  Ph.D. 

JUNIOR   PROFESSOR    OF   EDUCATION,    UNIVERSITY    OF    MICHIGAN 

Definitions. — The  expressions  "Continuation  School" 
and  "Continuation  Work"  are  employed  in  America 
with  equivocal  meanings.  Seeking  to  embody  the  idea 
and  spirit  of  the  Fortbildungschulen  of  Germany,  the 
first  enthusiasts  for  these  schools  very  naturally  over- 
stressed  the  features  that  stood  out  most  prominently  to 
the  superficial  observer.  This  feature  is  the  vocational 
one.  Hence  continuation  schools  at  the  outset  came  to 
imply  a  type  of  school  usually  organized  and  adminis- 
tered by  authorities  other  than  those  having  charge  of 
the  regular  system  of  schools,  and  aiming  to  give  a  voca- 
tional training  to  such  youths  as  have  completed  the 
elementary  schools  or  have  reached  the  age  of  fourteen 
and  have  engaged  in  some  form  of  industry  or  other  work. 
Viewed  thus,  the  new  type  of  school  merely  continued  the 
opportunities  to  secure  the  elements  of  an  education,  or- 
ganized, however,  with  reference  solely  to  skill  in  the 
particular  arts  of  their  trade.  Regarded  in  this  sense, 
continuation  schools  are  nearly  or  quite  synonymous 
with  apprenticeship  schools  and  trade-schools. 

A  second  interpretation  of  the  expressions  was  truer  to 
the  German  ideal.     This  was  not  only  to  continue  the 

546 


CONTINUATION   WORK  547 

opportunity  for  securing  an  elementary  education  beyond 
the  age  of  fourteen  but  to  compel  attendance  at  such 
schools  for  a  definite  period.  Moreover,  while  vocati<  >naJ 
training  constituted  the  nucleus  of  the  work,  the  training 
did  not  stop  there  but  included  also  religious,  civic, 
moral,  and  hygienic  instruction. 

Recently  continuation  work  has  come  to  have  a  still 
larger  and  broader  signification.  Under  the  caption  are 
now  included  all  forms  of  instruction  and  training,  both 
general  and  technical,  which  are  provided  for  pupils 
who  have  left  the  elementary  schools  and  which  aim  to 
continue  or  supplement  the  education  received  in  the 
regularly  organized  elementary  school — excepting  only 
such  education  as  is  secured  in  the  traditional  courses 
and  in  the  traditional  forms  and  ways  of  the  regular  high 
school.  Indeed,  every  extension  of  subject-matter  made 
in  the  interest  of  social  and  practical  needs,  every  differ- 
entiation of  courses  made  with  reference  to  some  newly 
felt  demand,  and  every  change  in  administration  affect- 
ing the  question  of  hours  of  attendance,  election  of  work, 
and  modification  of  method  represents,  even  in  the  tra- 
ditional high  school,  something  in  the  way  of  continua- 
tion work.  Such  work  has  for  its  aim  the  development 
of  an  individual  not  only  as  a  workman  but  as  a  citizen 
and  a  man.  It  seeks  equally  to  improve  the  personal, 
the  economic,  and  the  social  worth  of  each  human  being 
to  whom  it  ministers  and  hence  very  aptly  is  sometimes 
designated  "improvement  work."  It  is  "continuation 
work"  or  "improvement  work"  in  this  larger  and 
broader  meaning  of  the  terms  that  is  considered  in  this 
chapter. 

Historical  Sketch. — Continuation  schools  as  distinct 
from   apprenticeship  schools  and  as  agencies  for  con- 


548  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

tinning  the  rudiments  of  education  received  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools  had  their  rise  in  Germany  as  early  as 
the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  At  the  outset 
they  were  organized  as  Sunday  schools  and  sought  dur- 
ing an  hour  or  two  each  Sunday  to  give  instruction  in  the 
three  R's  and  religion.  Attendance  upon  such  schools 
soon  was  made  obligatory  on  all  youths,  girls  as1  well  as 
boys,  up  to  the  age  of  eighteen,  or  (in  case  of  girls)  till 
marriage.  In  time  vocational  or  apprenticeship  instruc- 
tion was  added  to  the  course,  and  the  aim  of  the  schools 
became  threefold;  namely,  personal  culture,  industrial 
skill,  and  patriotism.  In  time,  too,  week-day  and  eve- 
ning continuation  schools  grew  up. 

In  1869,  exactly  three  hundred  years  after  the  first 
continuation  school  was  established,  the  North  German 
Federation  of  States  authorized  by  law  any  local  political 
body  to  compel  attendance  at  continuation  schools  upon 
all  workmen  up  to  the  age  of  eighteen  years  and  to 
require  employers  to  grant  the  necessary  time  to  em- 
ployees to  attend  such  schools.  This  law  became  the 
basis  for  the  Imperial  Industrial  Law  of  1891,  which  has 
continued  in  force  until  to-day  the  essential  provisions 
of  the  older  law. 

With  the  larger  awakening  to  social  responsibility  in  the 
United  States  in  the  past  decade,  with  the  intensification 
of  industrial  conditions  and  the  specialization  of  labor 
everywhere  during  the  same  period,  and  with  the  fuller 
appreciation  of  the  educational  needs  of  the  age  and 
the  educational  efforts  being  put  forth  by  Germany  and 
other  European  countries  to  meet  these  needs,  there  has 
come  into  America  also,  since  about  1900,  an  enthusiasm 
for  continuation  schools.  And  yet,  withal,  there  has  been 
but  relatively  little  progress  toward  the  actual  establish- 


CONTINUATION   WORK  549 

ment  of  schools  of  this  kind.  To  quote  from  the  latest 
report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,1 
it  seems  that  "with  the  vocational  principle  fully  ac- 
knowledged, with  more  or  less  complete  systems  of  vo- 
cational education  in  operation  in  a  half-dozen  States 
and  in  numerous  cities,  and  with  constant  demands  from 
all  sources  for  the  extension  of  vocational  training,  the 
movement  is  not  yet  making  the  headway  in  practice 
that  it  should." 

The  fact  of  the  case  is  that  up  to  a  very  recent  date 
continuation  work  in  the  United  States  has  signified 
solely  vocational  work.  To-day  there  is  seemingly  a 
keener  appreciation  of  what  real  continuation  training 
involves.  There  is  a  recognition  that  vocational  train- 
ing cannot  safely  nor  feasibly  be  given  without  founding 
it  upon  the  fundamentals  of  a  general  education.  Hence, 
the  period  upon  which  America  has  entered  at  present  is 
one  of  experimenting  and  testing,  one  fraught  with  great 
possibilities  but  likewise  with  great  dangers. 

It  is  in  the  hopes  of  presenting  the  salient  conditions 
that  confront  the  situation  to-day,  of  suggesting  some 
principles  upon  which  procedure  must  be  based,  and  in 
offering  some  practical  suggestions  that  this  chapter  has 
been  undertaken. 

The  Present  Situation. — It  seems  clearly  apparent  to 
any  who  make  a  study  of  social  conditions  in  the  United 
States  and  who  scrutinize  the  work  of  the  public  schools 
that  the  present  organization,  administration,  and  re- 
sults of  education  are  unsatisfactory.  Investigate  where 
one  may,  the  same  general  defects  are  to  be  found. 
"Retardation,"  "elimination,"  and  "dissatisfaction" 
are  almost  universal  complaints.     Scores  of  young  peo- 

1  Commissioner  of  Education  Report,  1912,  vol.  I,  p.  21. 


550  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

pie  seek  and  grasp  at  the  most  trivial  excuses  to  forsake 
the  schools.  Economic  pressure,  ill  health,  and  mental 
incapacity  are,  of  course,  responsible  for  a  considerable 
number  of  these  defections,  but  they  account  for  only  a 
small  percentage  of  the  total.  Bulletins  recently  issued 
by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  prove  conclu- 
sively that  "from  one  half  to  three  fourths  of  the  girls 
at  work  in  the  factories  [at  Worcester,  Mass.]  could  have 
had  further  schooling  if  they  had  wanted  to  or  if  their 
parents  had  cared  to  insist  upon  it."  1 

Investigations  in  other  communities  reveal  similar 
conditions.  Moreover,  "  the  majority  of  young  girls  who 
leave  school  to  go  to  work  are  only  fourteen  years  of 
age"  and  "the  work  offered  in  the  grammar-schools  has 
been  completed  by  only  a  small  proportion"  of  them. 
More  alarming  still  is  the  fact  that  "the  number  of  four- 
teen-to-sixteen-year-old  girls  leaving  school  to  go  to  work 
is  increasing"  at  a  much  greater  rate  than  "  the  percent- 
age of  increase  in  population."2 

What  is  true  respecting  girls  is  likewise  true  respecting 
boys — and  in  a  more  exaggerated  form. 

The  real  explanation,  therefore,  of  the  excessive  school 
mortality  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  fifteen  is  the  dis- 
like of  the  school  as  it  is  to-day  organized  and  admin- 
istered and  the  desire  for  greater  manual,  physical,  and 
social  activity  than  the  school  affords.  "Such  facts  em- 
phasize the  large  demand  for  training  which  gives  oppor- 
tunity for  manual  combined  with  mental  development." 
They  also  give  warrant  and  justification  for  providing 
improvement  or  continuation  work  on  a  generous  scale 
and  for  extending  the  period  of  State  control  over  the 

Special  Bulletin  2A,  1152,  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education. 
2  Bulletin  No.  17,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  p.  11. 


CONTINUATION   WORK  551 

education  of  individuals  until  the  age  of  sixteen  or 
eighteen.  To  exempt  youths  suddenly  from  institutional 
control  at  the  period"  of  early  adolescence — the  most 
critical  and  unstable  period  of  life  and  the  period  in  which 
parental  control  is  least  effective — is  psychologically  most 
illogical,  morally  most  reprehensible,  economically  most 
wasteful,  and  politically  most  unwise.  Freed  from  close 
parental  care  and  from  school  discipline,  they  not  infre- 
quently drift  upon  the  active  world  of  business  and  seek 
to  satisfy  their  newly  awakened  sense  of  responsibility, 
personality,  and  power  in  its  bustling  life.  Moreover, 
the  business  world  unconsciously  fosters  the  determina- 
tion of  many  boys  and  girls  to  forsake  school  permanently 
by  inviting  them  to  enter  any  number  of  youthful  jobs 
in  which  regularity  of  hours  of  labor,  considerable  free 
tune,  and  relatively  attractive  compensation  prove  irre- 
sistible allurements.  But,  for  the  most  part,  such  posi- 
tions offer  little  opportunity  for  growth  in  insight;  skill, 
or  financial  advancement.  They  afford  the  maximum 
of  rewards  at  the  outset  and  hence  yield  diminishing 
returns. 

Meanwhile,  natural  and  social  interests  are  multiplied 
for  the  youths  and  economic  demands  are  increased.  In- 
ability to  satisfy  these  in  a  legitimate  and  normal  manner 
leads,  too  often,  first  to  dissatisfaction  with  the  job,  then 
to  carelessness  in  work,  and,  finally,  to  dismissal  or  resig- 
nation. For  some  months  the  story  is  repeated  at  in- 
tervals, each  new  venture  producing  a  more  calloused 
individual,  a  more  antisocial  citizen,  and  a  more  irre- 
sponsible workman.  The  inevitable  final  result  is  degen- 
eration to  the  ranks  of  the  criminal  or  the  socially  de- 
pendent, or  the  crushing  of  spirit  and  the  reduction  to  the 
condition  of  stolid,  embittered  workmen,  or  else  a  re- 


552  THE    MODERN    HIGH    SCHOOL 

arousing  of  aspirations  and  an  effort  to  increase  one's 
efficiency  and  social  ranking  even  at  a  belated  day. 

The  Awakened  Interest. — Revelations  of  the  existing 
conditions  have  recently  awakened  the  state  and  indus- 
try alike  to  an  appreciation  of  their  mutual  interests  and 
of  their  higher  obligations.  Industry  has  felt  the  lack 
of  apprentices  and  of  workmen  properly  trained  to  fill 
important  positions  as  foremen,  supervisors,  and  direct- 
ors. It  has  recognized,  too,  that  skill  alone  cannot  pro- 
duce the  desirable  workman,  but  that  intellectual  alert- 
ness, moral  responsibility,  and  physical  health  are  equally 
essential  elements.  Likewise,  the  state  has  come  to  a 
clearer  conception  of  her  legitimate  functions.  She  has 
come  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  her  own  highest  political, 
civic,  economic,  commercial,  and  social  interests  can  best 
be  conserved  and  promoted  if  the  body  of  her  citizens  be 
trained  not  only  to  contented  self-support  but  to  a  real- 
ization of  the  aims  and  functions  of  government,  the 
instruments  and  processes  of  civil  society,  and  the  interre- 
lations and  interdependencies  of  social  and  political  insti- 
tutions. That  is  to  say,  in  place  of  the  old  laissez-faire 
doctrine  of  the  function  of  government  there  is  substituted 
the  newer  socialistic  or  paternalistic  theory  of  the  state. 

Conclusions  from  the  Facts  and  Theories.- — In  the 
light  of  the  newer  theories  respecting  the  obligations  of 
state  and  industry  there  is  but  one  conclusion — namely, 
a  more  complete  democratic  realization  of  society  and  of 
the  agencies  employed  by  society  to  promote  its  welfare 
and  progress  must  be  developed.  The  schools,  repre- 
senting one  type  of  these  agencies,  cannot  escape  the  ef- 
fects of  this  general  evolutionary  tendency  if  they  would. 
The  lesson  is  plain:  public  education  must  be  made  avail- 
able for  all  and  adapted  to  the  special  needs  of  each. 


CONTINUATION   WORK  553 

It  is  just  this  enlarged  conception  of  the  purpose  and 
function  of  public  education  that  has  produced  the  de- 
mand for  continuation  work  for  those  who  in  their  earlier 
years  were  unable  to  avail  themselves  of  the  opportuni- 
ties of  the  regular  school,  or  neglected  to  take  advantage 
of  them,  or  were  unable  to  profit  from  the  instruction  fur- 
nished therein.  Moreover,  since  the  first  law  of  life  is 
self-preservation  and  hence  of  an  activity  that  shall  pro- 
vide a  livelihood,  and  since  the  dominant  impulse  of 
adolescence  is  participation  in  social  affairs  that  are  seen 
to  function  not  too  remotely  in  useful  forms,  continua- 
tion work  that  is  to  attract  and  stimulate  and  prove 
thoroughly  successful  must,  in  the  majority  of  instances, 
be  centred  in  vocational  interests  and  be  dominated  by 
the  vocational  spirit.  Vocational  training,  in  turn,  is  in- 
timately connected  with  the  questions  of  vocational  and 
avocational  guidance  and  with  the  employment  of  the 
school  buildings  as  social  centres,  topics  treated  elsewhere 
in  this  book. 

Principles  Governing  Continuation  Work. — Before 
considering  the  ways  and  means  of  conducting  continua- 
tion work,  wisdom  dictates  the  policy  of  formulating  at 
least  a  few  guiding  educational  principles.  These  may 
be  categorically  stated  thus: 

i .  Human  interests  are  diverse  and  express  themselves 
in  different  forms  and  in  varying  degrees  in  each  in- 
dividual. 

2.  Personal  power  and  happiness,  and  hence  social  wel- 
fare, are  most  enhanced  when  each  individual  has,  as 
fully  as  possible,  developed  his  real  native  interests — 
provided  these  interests  are  not  immoral  or  antisocial. 

3.  Personal  development  can  take  place  in  greatest 
degree  when  it  is  kept  in  harmony  with  natural  apti- 


554  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

tudes  and  ambitions  and  not  sought  by  agencies  working 
against  or  at  cross-purposes  with  these. 
(  4.  It  is  impossible  truly  to  educate  any  being  without 
reference  to  some  clearly  conceived  end  or  aim — though 
such  ends  or  aims  may  be  set  up  more  remotely  for  cer- 
tain types  of  minds  than  for  others. 

5.  For  a  large  proportion  of  mankind  the  only  appeal 
that  is  effective  at  the  outset  of  their  development  is  the 
egoistic,  practical,  or  vocational  appeal. 

6.  Industry  and  vocations  are  not  ends  in  themselves 
but  means  to  personal  culture  and  happiness  and  to  so- 
cial justice  and  progress. 

7.  The  first  step  to  personal  culture  and  to  social  inter- 
est is  "joy  in  one's  work." 

8.  The  first  element  in  the  development  of  joy  in  one's 
work  is  the  recognition  of  the  economic  and  aesthetic 
worth  of  the  product  produced  and  the  social  significance 
of  the  operations  involved. 

9.  The  recognition  of  the  social  value  of  one's  voca- 
tional efforts  alone  gives  an  apperceptive  basis  for  learn- 
ing the  greater  lesson  of  the  function  of  the  state  and 
the  community  and  of  the  demands  for  civic  co-opera- 
tion, personal  loyalty,  and  social  justice. 

10.  The  vocational,  semi-vocational,  or  continuation 
school  is  the  most  available  and  promising  agency  soci- 
ety possesses  for  securing  this  gradual  transformation 
of  many  of  its  members  from  selfish,  egoistic  individuals 
to  unselfish,  altruistic,  social  agents. 

The  Problem  Restated. — Edwin  G.  Cooley  has  formu- 
lated the  problem  in  a  clear  and'  concise  manner  in  his 
"Vocational  Education  in  Europe."     He  says: 

We  may  sum  up  the  problem  of  the  continuation  school  as 
fourfold: 


CONTINUATION   WORK  555 

i.  It  must  strengthen  and  deepen  the  moral  ideas  of  the  youth 
and  give  him  further  moral  development  out  of  his  new  surround- 
ings and  experiences. 

2.  It  must  put  him  into  social  relations  with  the  community 
and  state. 

3.  It  must  advance  his  vocational  training,  and,  in  connection 
with  this,  develop  his  general  education. 

4.  It  must  fill  up  the  gaps  in  general  training  which  seem  likely 
to  be  detrimental  to  success  in  the  vocational  world. 

Cooley  continues: 

From  an  ethical  point  of  view  it  may  be  hard  to  justify  taking 
the  third  idea  as  the  centre  and  grouping  the  others  about  it. 
There  is,  however,  no  question  but  that  the  third  is  the  peda- 
gogical centre  of  all  the  instruction  in  the  continuation  school; 
through  it  we  may  strengthen  the  other  three  ideals.  Through 
their  desire  to  become  efficient  vocationally,  these  boys  are 
brought  to  see  their  relations  to  society  and  the  state  and  to 
realize  the  advantages  of  a  broad  intellectual  development. l 

Thus,  it  is  clear  that  while  vocational  training  must, 
for  the  most  part,  be  used  as  the  lure  to  attract  youths  to 
the  continuation  school,  such  schools  must  go  far  beyond 
the  vocational  in  their  efforts.  Moreover,  for  adults  of 
eighteen  years  or  older  the  vocational  aspects  may  some- 
times be  entirely  incidental  and  the  appeal  may  be  made 
strictly  through  the  general  cultural  improvement  to  be 
derived. 

For  Whom  Is  Continuation  Work  to  Be  Provided. — 
With  the  foregoing  facts,  principles,  and  theories  to 
guide,  it  seems  clear  that  if  continuation  work  in  the 
United  States  is  to  be  provided  in  a  way  adequate  to 
meet  the  needs  of  all  who  should  be  encouraged  to  avail 
themselves  of  such  opportunities,  provision  must  be 
made  for  the  following  classes  of  persons: 

1  E.  G.  Cooley,  "Vocational  Education  in  Europe,"  p.  86. 


556  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

i .  Those  boys  and  girls  over  fourteen  years  of  age  who, 
for  various  reasons,  have  completed  only  a  portion  of  the 
regular  elementary  school  course  and  have  entered  upon 
rather  permanent  lines  of  vocational  work.  This  group 
needs  a  training  that  will  fill  the  gaps  in  their  earlier  ele- 
mentary education,  "improvement  work"  to  fit  them 
better  for  citizenship  and  for  the  enjoyment  of  health 
and  leisure,  and  specific  vocational  instruction. 

2.  Those  who  have  completed  the  elementary  school 
curriculum  and  possibly  also  a  portion  of  the  high  school 
course,  have  engaged  temporarily  in  various  forms  of 
unskilled  work  or  vocations  offering  little  opportunity  for 
advancement,  and  seek  to  fit  themselves  for  admission  to 
college,  technical  schools,  or  more  remunerative  positions 
in  industrial  or  commercial  fields.  It  is  due  members  of 
this  class  that  such  culture  and  practical  work  of  the 
high  school  as  is  needed  to  fit  them  for  their  life  career 
shall  be  given  them. 

3.  Those  who  have  received  a  fairly  ample  liberal  edu- 
cation but  who  desire  to  supplement  their  training  by 
courses  dealing  with  recently  organized  knowledge  or  by 
courses  taught  in  ways  different  from  the  manner  in  which 
they  formerly  were  presented  to  them.  Such  work  may 
be  pursued  for  culture  only  or  for  practical  utility.  It 
includes,  for  example,  manual-training  work  for  the  pro- 
fessional or  business  man,  literature  or  language  study  or 
art  work  for  the  ambitious  women  of  leisure,  and  domestic 
science  and  art  or  bookkeeping  or  millinery  work  for  the 
women  seeking  to  apply  the  knowledge  to  home  problems. 

4.  Those  immigrants  who  have  had  little  or  no  train- 
ing in  American  elementary  schools  and  who  seek  a 
practical  knowledge  of  our  language  and  our  business 
and  political  institutions. 


CONTINUATION    WORK  557 

5.  Those  who,  whatever  their  previous  education,  de- 
sire to  acquire  a  knowledge  and  training  in  a  single 
special  trade  and  to  secure  this  education  in  the  short- 
est time  possible.  The  members  of  this  group  differ  from 
those  in  groups  one  and  two  in  that  the  continuation 
work  sought  is  narrowly  utilitarian  and  specialized. 

Thus,  considering  the  classes  of  individuals  for  whom 
continuation  work  must  in  the  nature  of  the  case  be  de- 
signed, there  is  ample  justification  for  making  it,  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  centre  about  vocational  interests. 

Classification  of  Types  of  Continuation  Work  in  the 
United  States. — Ignoring  for  the  present  the  content  of 
continuation  and  vocational  work,  it  is  doubtless  within 
the  limits  of  fact  to  say  there  is  no  form  of  such  training 
undertaken  in  any  European  country  that  has  not  had 
its  counterpart  in  America.  Indeed,  there  have  been 
experiments  undertaken  in  the  United  States  that  (it 
seems  safe  to  say)  are  as  yet  unknown  elsewhere.  Inas- 
much, however,  as  it  is  at  present  extremely  difficult  to 
lay  down  hard-and-fast  limits  to  (so-called)  elementary 
education,  secondary  education,  vocational  and  techni- 
cal education,  and  even  higher  education,  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  delicate  judgment  as  to  what  portions  of  such 
work  fall  within  the  limits  of  a  book  that  professes  to 
deal  only  with  high  school  education. 

Nevertheless,  since  the  tendency  throughout  the  land 
seems  to  be  to  confine  the  period  of  the  undifferentiated 
elementary  school  to  six  years  and  to  include  the  present 
seventh  and  eighth  grades1  (and  in  some  places  also  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  grades,  that  is  to  say,  the  first 
two  years  of  academic  study  beyond  the  present  high 

1  For  a  detailed  analysis  of  these  tendencies  see  Chapter  IV  in  vol. 
I  of  this  series. 


558  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

school l)  in  the  scope  of  secondary  education,  it  seems 
fitting  and  proper  to  regard  all  forms  of  vocational  or 
improvement  work  that  is  provided  for  youths  outside 
the  regular  traditional  schools  or  traditional  courses,  and 
that  is  open  to  pupils  twelve  years  of  age  or  older,  as 
appropriate  material  for  discussion  in  this  chapter. 

The  complete  classification  of  the  various  types  of  vo- 
cational and  continuation  work  will  then  be  as  follows: 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  VOCATIONAL  AND  CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS 

I.  Day  Schools. 

i.  Preapprenticeship  schools. 

2.  Trade  or  vocational  schools. 

3.  Vocational  curriculums  in  general  high  schools. 

(a)  Short-term. 

(b)  Long-term. 

4.  Vocational  high  schools. 

(a)  High  schools  of  commerce. 

(b)  Commercial  high  schools. 

(c)  High  schools  of  manual  arts  for  boys. 

(d)  High  schools  of  practical  arts  for  girls. 

(e)  Industrial  high  schools. 
(/)  Technical  high  schools. 
(g)  Agricultural  high  schools. 

5.  Vacation  schools. 

II.  Evening  Schools. 

III.  Part-Time  Day  Schools. 

1.  Co-operative  work. 

(a)  Half-day  classes. 

(b)  Alternate-week  (or  fortnight)  classes. 

(c)  Weekly    short-session    classes    (or   continuation 
schools,  in  the  popular  meaning  of  the  term). 

1  Many  regular  high  schools  now  offer  two  years  of  graduate  study  in 
academic  subjects.  The  State  of  California  in  particular  has  taken  an 
active  lead  in  such  a  plan  and  has  by  law  specifically  authorized  such 
extension. 


CONTINUATION   WORK  559 

(i)  Within  public-school  buildings. 
(2)  Within  shops,  stores,  and  business  houses. 
2.  Independent  work. 

(a)  Adult  classes. 

(b)  Special-student  work. 

(c)  Visiting-student  work. 

(d)  Supervised  out-of-class  work. 

(1)  Independent  study  and  special  reports. 

(2)  Private  instruction  and  certification. 

(e)  Extension  courses. 
(/)  Sunday  schools. 

IV.  Schools  for  Exceptional  Children. 

1.  Physically  defective. 

(a)  Deaf  and  dumb. 
(6)  Blind. 

(c)  Tubercular. 

(d)  Deformed  and  crippled. 

2.  Morally  defective. 

(a)  Incorrigibles. 

3.  Mentally  defective. 

(a)  Morons. 

V.  Miscellaneous  Improvement  Work. 

1.  Parents  and  Teachers'  Associations. 

2.  Teachers'  institutes. 

3.  Teachers'  study  clubs. 

4.  People's  high  schools. 

5.  People's  eleven-day  courses. 

6.  People's  institutes  (one  or  two  days). 

7.  High  school  extension  work. 

Analysis  of  the  Various  Types. — A  brief  analysis  of 
each  type  of  vocational  or  improvement  work  mentioned 
is  desirable. 

1.  Preapprenticeship  Schools. — These  are  also  fre- 
quently styled  general  industrial  or  preparatory  trade 
or  prevocational  schools.  They  are  schools  ordinarily 
open  to  boys  and  girls  who  have  not  completed  the 


560  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

elementary  schools  and  who  often  are  under  fourteen 
years  of  age,  but  whose  interests,  capacities,  and  eco- 
nomic resources  demand  that  they  shall  be  given  an  in- 
tensely practical  training  if  they  are  to  be  retained  in  the 
schools  with  any  large  degree  of  advantage  to  themselves. 
These  schools  are,  therefore,  but  the  result  of  a  differ- 
entiation of  the  elementary  school  at  the  end  of  the  sixth 
or  seventh  grade.  The  instruction  consists  of  English, 
mathematics,  and  science  taught  with  more  than  usual 
reference  to  industry;  of  history,  civics,  physical  train- 
ing, and  hygiene;  and  of  elementary  work  in  commer- 
cial branches,  manual  arts,  domestic  arts,  and  general- 
trade  instruction.  Schools  of  this  type — usually  offering 
a  two-year  course — are  found  in  several  of  our  larger 
cities,  e.  g.,  Buffalo,  Chicago,  and  Pittsburg,  and  could 
wisely  be  adopted  in  other  places. 

2.  Trade-Schools  or  Vocational  Schools. — The  trade- 
school,  so-called,  is  not  infrequently  synonymous  with 
the  preapprenticeship  school.  It  differs  in  theory  from 
that  type  of  school  in  that  the  dominant  feature  is  special- 
trade  rather  than  general-trade  instruction.  Pupils  are 
admitted  to  the  trade-schools  at  fourteen  years  of  age  but 
often  before  they  have  completed  the  elementary  school 
curriculum.  The  courses  are  usually  short — from  four 
months  to  two  years — and  include  a  modicum  of  general 
knowledge  applied  to  the  special  trade  in  question.  In 
some  places,  however,  the  courses  are  three  or  four 
years  in  length,  provide  a  rather  general  training  in 
commercial,  industrial,  and  domestic  arts,  and  differ 
from  the  vocational  courses  in  the  general  high  school 
chiefly  in  the  facts  that  not  all  students  have  completed 
the  elementary  curriculum,  that  the  work  is  organized 
in  a  separate  building,  and  that  a  greater  portion  of  the 


CONTINUATION   WORK  561 

school  day  is  devoted  to  practice  in  the  chosen  art  than 
is  possible  in  the  high  school. 

Schools  of  this  type  have  been  established  in  many 
American  cities  and  their  numbers  are  fast  multiplying. 
They  take  many  diverse  forms.  Thus,  for  example, 
Buffalo  has  provided  five  vocational  schools  and  gives 
instruction  in  the  following  work:  cabinetmaking,  car- 
pentry, pattern-making,  electrical  construction,  machine- 
shop  practice,  printing,  commercial  subjects,  and  girls' 
industrial  work.  Buffalo  has  recently  also  "instituted  a 
survey  of  the  principal  occupations  for  women  and  girls 
in  Buffalo"  and  is  making  plans  to  establish  separate  vo- 
cational schools  for  girls.  Likewise,  Detroit  is  about  to 
open  several  vocational  schools  of  a  similar  character  for 
both  boys  and  girls.     Illustrations  could  be  multiplied. 

But  not  only  are  cities  establishing  vocational  schools, 
but  in  several  instances  State  trade-schools  have  been 
founded.  Among  these  are  the  State  trade-schools  at 
New  Britain  and  Bridgeport,  Conn.;  the  New  York 
Trade-School  for  Girls  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.;  the  Girls' 
Trade-School  at  Boston,  and  the  Milwaukee  School  of 
Trades  for  Boys  at  Milwaukee. 

The  New  Britain  State  Trade-School  will  furnish  an 
illustration  of  this  type  of  schools.  Here  boys  are 
taught  the  following  trades:  machinist,  tool-making, 
pattern-making,  carpentry,  cabinetmaking,  draughting, 
printing  and  bookbinding,  and  plumbing.  Girls  are 
taught  dressmaking  and  millinery.  The  only  entrance 
requirements  are :  ability  to  read  and  write  English  cor- 
rectly and  a  minimum  age  limit  of  fourteen  years. 

In  this  trade-school,  as  in  many  others,  the  guiding 
principle  is  to  make  the  work  real  in  the  fullest  meaning 
of  the  term.     No  undertaking  is  pursued  merely  for 


5G2  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

"practice,"  but  from  the  very  outset  of  the  course  the 
output  is  fashioned  to  fill  definite  orders  from  business 
firms.  Hence  each  product  has  commercial  value,  the 
orders  from  regular  customers  furnishing  a  varied  line 
of  work  and  development  in  each  special  trade,  enabling 
the  producer  to  "learn  and  earn"  at  the  same  time. 
Recently  the  boys  from  this  school  have  engaged  in 
house-building  for  contractors  and  have  constructed 
houses  complete — from  the  excavation  work  to  the  in- 
stallation of  the  plumbing  and  electrical  equipment. 
The  girls  supply  certain  firms  in  New  York  City  with 
regular  shipments  of  garments  and  ladies'  hats.  There 
can  be  no  question  but  that  such  trade-schools  or  voca- 
tional schools,  established  by  municipalities,  counties,  and 
States,  are  destined  to  become  established  in  increasing 
numbers  and  to  afford  a  very  important  kind  of  continu- 
ation work.  Properly  differentiated  and  wisely  distrib- 
uted, it  is  certain  that  they  not  only  will  make  a  wide 
appeal  but  will  serve  social  and  economic  interests  in 
very  advantageous  ways. 

There  seems,  however,  no  very  convincing  reason  for 
removing  the  control  of  these  schools  from  the  hands  of 
the  regularly  constituted  school  authorities,  as  some 
would  advise.  No  doubt  the  dual  system  works  satis- 
factorily in  Germany  and  other  foreign  countries,  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  present  school  ma- 
chinery in  America  is  incapable  of  handling  vocational 
education  wisely.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  real  dan- 
ger that  a  dual  system  of  administration  will  lead  to 
friction,  duplication,  waste,  and  possibly  extravagance. 
Moreover,  such  an  arrangement  is  fraught  with  the  men- 
ace of  intensifying  class  feelings  and  of  mechanizing  vo- 
cational work.     The  wisest  plan  of  conducting  all  public 


CONTINUATION   WORK  5G3 

school  matters  is  through  the  agency  of  trained  experts  selected 
by  a  body  of  truly  representative  non-experts.  Hence  a 
single  board  of  education,  advised  by  a  consultative  com- 
mittee of  business  men,  can  best  determine  general  educa- 
tional policies  and  raise  the  moneys  to  support  them. 
Such  a  consultative  committee,  ready  and  willing  to 
furnish  the  responsible  school  authority  with  data  and 
suggestions  respecting  vocational  needs,  will  add  breadth, 
depth,  and  positiveness  to  policies  that  may  be  under- 
taken. The  expert  administrators,  selected  by  the  board, 
can  then  best  be  left  to  execute  the  policies  decided 
upon. 

3.  General  High  Schools. — Within  the  general  high 
school  to-day  are  to  be  found  two  types  of  vocational 
curriculums — the  short-term  curriculum,  usually  two 
years  in  length,  and  the  long-term  curriculum  of  four 
years.  The  former  marks  a  very  recent  development; 
the  latter  is  of  several  years'  standing.  Within  each  of 
these  two  types  of  curriculums  from  one  half  to  three 
fourths  of  the  subject-matter  is  "academic"  in  char- 
acter— though  often  presented  with  a  vocational  flavor. 
The  remainder  of  the  work  is  professedly  vocational. 

The  most  commonly  organized  curriculums  of  the 
four-year  type  are  the  commercial,  the  manual  training, 
and  the  domestic  science  and  arts.  Los  Angeles,  how- 
ever (which  has  probably  differentiated  its  curriculums 
most  fully  of  any  city) ,  provides  the  following  vocational 
curriculums :  Commercial  art,  hand-wrought  metal  work, 
interior  decorating,  leather  work,  pottery  work,  general 
farmer,  specialty  farmer,  truck  gardener,  landscape- 
gardener,  nurseryman,  dairy-farmer,  poultry  man,  farm 
mechanic,  multigraph  operator,  adding-machine  operator, 
filing  clerk,  billing  clerk,  office  assistant,  office  manager, 


564  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

accountant,  auditor,  bank  clerk,  bookkeeper,  cashier, 
stenographer,  reporter,  private  secretary,  shipping-clerk, 
receiving  clerk,  business  manager,  post-office  employee, 
civil-service  employee,  commercial  teacher,  caterer's 
assistant  (cooking  and  supplying  home-made  articles  for 
delicatessen  stores  and  private  families) ,  teacher  domestic 
science  and  art,  housekeeper,  waitress,  dressmaker,  mil- 
liner, seamstress,  boat-builder,  engineer  (marine-gaso- 
line), merchant  marine,  naval  architect,  aquarian  archi- 
tect, cataloguer  of  marine  life,  chart  designer,  curator  of 
museums,  fish  commissioner,  fish  expert,  fish  propagator, 
assayer,  blacksmith,  cabinetmaker,  chemist,  architectural 
draughtsman,  mechanical  craftsman,  foundryman,  cen- 
tral station  electrical  work,  substation  electrical  work, 
telephone  work,  electric-light  work,  electrician,  machine- 
shop  work,  pattern-making,  and  surveying — being  sixty- 
six  in  number. 

The  above  courses  are  offered  in  one  or  more  of  the 
six  regular  high  schools  of  Los  Angeles  and  are  grouped 
under  the  following  six  main  divisions  of  vocations:  art 
work,  agricultural  occupations,  commerical  work,  do- 
mestic science  and  domestic  art,  marine  vocations,  tech- 
nical and  semitechnical  vocations  or  trades. 

In  each  of  these  curriculums  are  found  (besides  the 
major  subject  and  English)  from  two  to  four  years' 
work  in  history,  from  one  to  four  years'  work  in  mathe- 
matics, together  with  a  minimum  amount  of  work  in 
music,  physical  education,  and  oral  expression. 

The  principle  of  differentiation  revealed  here  is  being 
widely  accepted,  and  vocational  curriculums  in  the 
general  high  school  are  multiplying  rapidly.  There  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  for  the  smaller  community  this 
mode  of  providing  vocational  or  continuation  work  is 


CONTINUATION   WORK  565 

one  of  the  best  and  most  feasible  and  that  the  practice 
will  continue. 

The  short-term  vocational  curriculum  differs  from  the 
four-year  curriculum  chiefly  in  that  the  subject-matter  is 
more  completely  vocational,  thus  allowing  the  individual 
pursuing  it  to  secure  quickly  the  practical  training  he 
seeks  and  to  enter  upon  his  vocational  career  at  an  early 
date.  Among  the  cities  offering  curriculums  of  this 
type  are  Kansas  City,  Kans.;  Pittsburg,  Pa.;  South 
Bend,  Ind.,  and  Chicago,  111. — the  latter  city  providing 
ten  distinct  two-year  curriculums  of  a  vocational  char- 
acter. 

The  plan  here  revealed  possesses  decided  merits. 
With  some  possible  modifications,  it  is  adapted  to  every 
high  school  in  the  land  in  which  vocational  courses  of  any 
character  are  offered.  The  scheme  does  not  signify  a 
four-year  course  with  the  last  two  years  omitted,  but  it 
permits  such  a  reorganization  of  the  vocational  work 
offered  as  to  provide  for  intensification  and  relative  com- 
pleteness at  the  end  of  a  two-year  period.  Continuation 
work  of  this  kind  differs  less  in  character  than  in  mode 
of  organization  from  the  work  provided  in  the  so-called 
vocational  schools  already  discussed.  Here  the  instruc- 
tion is  given  in  the  regular  high  school,  and  ordinarily 
is  open  to  none  excepting  those  who  have  completed  the 
elementary  schools.  By  making  the  admission  require- 
ments as  liberal  here  as  in  the  vocational  schools,  smaller 
communities  can  provide  this  form  of  continuation 
work  as  readily  as  larger  communities.  The  short-term 
courses  are  worthy  of  encouragement. 

4.  Special  High  Schools. — Special  vocational  high 
schools  are  practicable  only  in  cities  of  larger  size,  wherein 
the  demands  for  extensive  specialized  work  in  particu- 


566  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

lar  fields  come  from  a  considerable  body  of  candidates. 
Within  these  schools  the  principle  of  differentiation  of 
work  of  an  advanced  secondary  kind  is  carried  to  its 
logical  end.  In  form  the  special  school  is  not  different 
from  the  special  or  differentiated  courses  within  the  sin- 
gle general  high  school,  but  in  spirit  and  method  there  is 
a  decided  unlikeness.  These  schools  foster  a  unity  of 
purpose  and  a  solidarity  of  interest  that  are  clear-cut, 
definite,  and  articulated.  The  methods,  too,  are  the 
methods  of  practical  education — all  subjects  being  pre- 
sented with  reference  solely  to  their  application.  They 
seek  to  do  for  the  youths  who  have  superior  ability  in 
particular  lines  or  who  enjoy  unusual  economic  and  edu- 
cational advantages  what  the  vocational  schools  seek  to 
do  for  the  less  fortunate  boy  or  girl. 

There  are  as  many  as  seven  distinct  subdivisions  of 
this  type  of  special  high  schools: 

(a)  The  High  School  of  Commerce  aims  to  give  a 
broad  knowledge  of  business  affairs  and  processes,  and, 
in  particular,  a  specialized  training  in  connection  with 
the  problems  of  trade,  transportation,  and  finance.  It 
seeks  to  fit  young  men  to  take  their  places  among  the 
directive  agencies  of  the  business  world.  Such  schools 
have  arisen  out  of  the  demands  of  the  larger  commercial 
interests  of  the  country  and  are  found  only  in  cities  of 
considerable  size,  as,  for  example,  in  New  York,  Boston, 
Philadelphia.  In  such  cities  they  are  desirable  and 
feasible. 

(b)  The  Commercial  High  School  aims  chiefly  to  fit 
boys  and  girls  for  subordinate  positions  in  offices,  stores, 
and  business  houses.  It  takes  the  place  of  the  private 
"commercial  college"  or  the  "commercial  course"  in 
the  general  high  schools. 


CONTINUATION  WORK  567 

(c)  The  High  School  of  Manual  Arts  (boys)  centres  its 
activities  about  work  in  drawing  and  manual  training. 
It  seeks  to  train  young  men  for  positions  as  draughts- 
men, foremen,  engineers,  architects,  and  managers  of 
manufacturing  establishments,  but  presupposes  a  sup- 
plementary period  of  apprenticeship  after  leaving  the 
school.  Schools  of  this  type  are  desirable  in  all  large 
industrial  centres. 

{d)  The  High  School  of  Practical  Arts  (girls)  is  not 
infrequently  given  other  names,  as,  for  example,  high 
school  of  domestic  arts,  vocational  high  school  for 
girls,  and  girls'  technical  high  school.  Within  these 
schools  two  lines  of  work  run  parallel  and  are  interwoven 
in  each  girl's  curriculum — one  seeking  to  give  a  practical 
training  that  will  enable  her  to  earn  a  respectable  liveli- 
hood for  the  uncertain  period  preceding  her  marriage 
and  the  other  seeking  to  give  such  knowledge  and  train- 
ing as  will  fit  her  for  the  higher  calling  of  home  maker, 
motherhood,  and  citizenship.  Boston,  New  York,  and 
some  other  cities  provide  schools  of  this  type.  In  several 
other  cities  the  same  purpose  is  sought  in  schools  of  other 
names — particularly  in  technical  high  schools. 

(e)  The  Industrial  High  School.  The  first  school  of 
this  kind  to  be  established  in  the  United  States  is  the 
Industrial  High  School  of  Columbus,  Ga.,  which  was 
opened  in  1906.  This  school  provides  a  three-year  cur- 
riculum and  articulates  with  a  seven-year  grammar- 
school  course.  In  addition  to  the  usual  academic  work 
in  English,  mathematics,  history,  and  science,  each  pupil 
is  required  to  pursue  one  of  five  distinct  trade  courses. 
These  are:  (1)  home  economics,  (2)  dressmaking  and 
millinery,  (3)  mechanic  arts,  (4)  textile  arts,  and  (5) 
business  training. 


568  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

A  quotation  from  an  official  bulletin  makes  clear  the 
character  of  this  school : 

"The  academic  work  is  related  as  closely  as  possible 
to  the  trade  courses.  For  instance,  the  science  teacher 
co-operates  with  the  specialist  in  charge  of  the  textile 
department  in  matters  of  dyeing.  The  chemistry  course, 
so  far  as  the  pupils  in  this  department  are  concerned,  has 
special  reference  to  the  work  of  that  department;  while 
in  the  domestic-science  department  the  chemistry  has 
special  reference  to  the  analysis  of  foods  and  their  nu- 
tritive values.  In  the  English  department  pupils  are 
required  to  take  topics  from  their  trade  courses  as  sub- 
jects for  themes,  and  the  special  teachers  of  the  trade 
courses  correct  the  papers  with  reference  to  facts,  while 
the  head  of  the  English  department  criticises  and  grades 
them  with  reference  to  their  form  and  literary  value. 
The  problems  in  mathematics  used  in  the  classroom  grow 
largely  out  of  the  work  of  the  shops.  And  the  history 
teacher  presents  his  subject  especially  from  the  industrial 
point  of  view."1 

One  half  of  each  day  in  this  school  is  devoted  to  in- 
dustrial work  and  the  other  half  to  academic  studies. 
Visits  to  mills,  factories,  and  machine-shops  are  fre- 
quent. 

As  in  the  case  of  practical-arts  work  for  girls,  a  num- 
ber of  cities  have,  since  1906,  provided  industrial  training 
in  specialized  schools  but  frequently  have  given  to  such 
institutions  the  name  technical  schools.  Whether  vo- 
cational training  is  furnished  in  a  high  school  specialized 
to  include  but  one  line  of  study  or  in  schools  organized 
into  several  co-ordinate  divisions  is  a  matter  of  little 

1 " Industrial  Education  in  Columbus,  Ga.,"  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion, Bulletin  25,  p.  16. 


CONTINUATION   WORK  569 

significance  and  can  best  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the 
local  authorities. 

(/)  The  Technical  High  School  includes  under  one 
roof  the  work  that  in  other  cities  is  frequently  organized 
in  manual-arts  schools,  commerical  schools,  and  often- 
times, too,  practical-arts  schools.  Schools  of  this  type 
have  recently  been  established  in  Detroit,  Cleveland, 
Pittsburg,  and  other  cities  and  give  promise  of  much 
further  extension. 

(g)  Agricultural  High  Schools  seek  to  serve  rural  boys 
and  girls  in  the  same  manner  that  the  other  types  of 
vocational  high  school  serve  the  urban  resident.  The 
aim  is  to  fit  for  a  life  of  contentment  and  efficiency  on 
the  farms.  Such  schools  include,  usually,  academic  sub- 
jects,.domestic  science  and  art,  manual  training,  farm 
mechanics,  bookkeeping  and  other  commercial  education 
relatable  to  farm  processes,  farm  beautifying,  rural  soci- 
olog}r,  and  other  technical  branches.  Schools  of  this  type 
are  authorized  by  law  in  several  States  and  in  certain  sec- 
tions of  the  United  States  many  have  been  established. 
In  some  instances  they  are  organized  as  State  schools,  e.  g. , 
the  State  School  of  Agriculture  at  Alfred,  N.  Y.,  and  the 
Murray  State  School,  Oklahoma;  in  many  instances  they 
are  county  schools,  e.  g.,  the  Milwaukee  (Wis.)  School  of 
Agriculture  and  the  Menominee  County  (Mich.)  School 
of  Agriculture. 

It  seems  clear  that  wherever  the  unit  of  organization 
is  sufficiently  populous  to  make  the  specialized  high 
school  economically  justifiable,  and  wherever  a  strong  vo- 
cational demand  is  felt  for  a  distinct  school  of  this  kind, 
this  way  of  organizing  and  administering  vocational  ed- 
ucation possesses  many  advantages.  Among  these  are 
the  feeling  of  solidarity  and  pride  in  work  on  the  part 


570  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

of  the  students,  the  possibility  of  employing  a  freer  spirit 
in  discipline  than  in  the  cosmopolitan  schools,  economy 
of  equipment,  longer  school  periods  and  a  longer  school 
day,  and  the  closer  articulation  of  shop  and  school. 

5.  Vacation  Schools  have  much  to  recommend  them 
to  public  consideration,  and  many  communities  are  pro- 
viding for  them.  Omitting  from  consideration  vacation 
schools  designed  for  very  young  children  (though  even 
these  are  in  a  certain  sense  continuation  schools,  since 
they  depart  in  a  notable  way  from  the  traditional  ele- 
mentary school),  it  seems  plausible  to  assert  that  the 
schools  of  this  type  may  be  made  to  yield  the  following 
advantages:  First,  they  permit  the  healthy,  capable,  and 
ambitious  high  school  pupil  to  shorten  his  four-year 
course  very  materially;  secondly,  they  enable  the  high 
school  student  who  for  one  reason  or  another  has  failed 
to  pass  a  portion  of  his  work  the  previous  year  to  regain 
his  ranking  and  to  proceed  with  his  class;  thirdly,  it  per- 
mits students  who  are  seeking  to  acquire  a  vocational 
training  within  a  limited  period  of  time  to  complete  a 
definite  portion  earlier  than  they  otherwise  would  be 
able.  Moreover,  it  furnishes  a  chance  for  a  student  to 
do  extra  work  in  the  subjects  in  which  he  wishes  to 
specialize. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  vacation  school  fur- 
nishes a  form  of  continuation  work  that  is  capable  of 
filling  an  important  educational  and  social  service.  It 
is  feasible  to  conduct  such  a  school  in  almost  any  com- 
munity in  which  the  demand  is  made  articulate.  De- 
troit, Cleveland,  Chicago,  New  York,  Pittsburg,  and 
many  other  cities  provide  schools  of  this  type,  and  it 
seems  probable  the  movement  will  be  rapidly  extended. 
Wherever    the   regular   school   year   extends   over   ten 


CONTINUATION   WORK  571 

months  the  vacation  school  must,  perforce,  be  shortened 
below  a  term  of  twelve  weeks.  Where  this  is  done 
economy  of  administration  would  suggest,  doubtless,  that 
the  number  of  courses  elected  by  any  individual  should 
be  reduced  to  two  or  three,  that  class  periods  should  be 
correspondingly  lengthened,  and  that  thus  the  work 
carried  in  any  course  in  the  summer  should  be  made 
equivalent  to  the  same  course  during  the  regular  quarter 
or  semester.  By  confining  the  work  to  the  morning  and 
to  the  hours  of  early  afternoon,  and  by  providing  op- 
portunities for  study  within  the  school  building,  ample 
time  for  rest  and  recreation  is  still  allowed  later  in  the 
day.  An  incidental  result  of  the  vacation  school  is  the 
impulse  given  to  the  all-year  schools.  If  developed,  this 
plan  of  organization  will  permit  four  terms  of  eleven  or 
twelve  weeks  each,  and  hence  will  provide  an  additional 
means  for  securing  flexibility. 

Evening  Schools. — The  second  large  division  of 
schools  that  deal  with  continuation  work  consists  of  the 
evening  schools.  Established  now  in  nearly  every  large 
city  and  town,  these  schools  seek  to  provide  an  academic 
and  a  vocational  training  in  all  lines  of  work  for  which 
there  is  a  well-expressed  request.  Organized  in  courses 
that  are  given  three  evenings  per  week  (usually  Monday, 
Wednesday,  and  Friday)  and  in  courses  that  meet  but 
twice  per  week  (Tuesday  and  Thursday),  continuation 
work  (where  thus  given)  is  made  available  for  all  who 
possess  the  physical  strength,  intellectual  alertness,  and 
moral  stamina  to  seek  it.  Although  tens  of  thousands 
of  boys  and  girls  and  men  and  women  do  attend  evening 
continuation  schools,  the  fatigue  of  strenuous  day  labor 
unfits  many  times  that  number  for  pursuing  any  courses 
that  demand  concentration,  alert  thinking,  or  physical 


572  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

effort.  Hence  it  is  clear  that  the  evening  continuation 
school,  as  the  chief  agency  for  bettering  the  intellectual, 
vocational,  and  social  welfare  of  the  classes  who  toil,  is 
destined  to  prove  an  inadequate  agency.  As  a  volun- 
tary school  it  doubtless  can  serve  a  most  useful  purpose ; 
but  as  a  means  of  securing  compulsory  continuation 
schooling  it  is  ill  adapted. 

Other  difficulties  to  the  adequate  administration  of 
evening  continuation  schools  lie  in  the  inequality  of  at- 
tainments among  those  who  do  attend,  the  insufficiency 
of  well-trained  teachers,  and  suitable  text-books.  Nev- 
ertheless, these  are  but  temporary  administrative  prob- 
lems and  doubtless  will  gradually  be  solved  in  satisfac- 
tory ways. 

It  is  important  to  note  that,  despite  the  obstacles  that 
have  stood  in  the  course  of  the  full  realization  of  the 
ideals  of  this  type  0I  school,  it  has  nevertheless  proved 
itself  capable  of  real  and  wide-spread  service  and  has 
been  the  agency  for  providing  continuation  work  in 
manifold  ways. 

Merely  to  list  a  few  of  the  courses  of  instruction  given 
in  various  schools  to-day  is  to  suggest  the  illimitable 
range  of  possibilities  that  inhere  in  schools  organized 
after  this  type.  The  list  includes  the  various  academic 
subjects,  semiacademic  courses  in  manual  training  and 
domestic  science  and  art,  commercial  work  of  many 
kinds,  plumbing,  laundering,  telegraphy,  telegraph  and 
telephone  construction,  bookbinding,  printing,  electrical 
work,  mining  processes,  marine  engineering,  boat-build- 
ing, gas-engines,  automobile  building,  chauffeuring,  avia- 
tion, millinery,  dressmaking,  cigar  making,  nursing,  do- 
mestic service,  public  service,  office  practice,  secretarial 
work,  etc.,  etc.     Wherever  the  population  of  the  com- 


CONTINUATION   WORK  573 

munity  contains  a  large  proportion  of  foreign-born  citi- 
zens, courses  in  spoken  and  written  English  are  also  com- 
mon and  are,  in  many  cases  at  least,  eagerly  pursued. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  evening  school  affords  an  important 
means  of  providing  continuation  work  for  many  classes 
of  persons.  It  constitutes,  moreover,  a  form  of  continu- 
ation work  that  can  be  carried  on  in  practically  every 
high  school  in  the  land.  Wisdom,  of  course,  will  dictate 
that  futile  efforts  shall  not  be  encouraged.  As  in  all 
other  forms  of  education,  local  demands  must  in  large 
measure  determine  the  scope,  intensiveness,  and  char- 
acter of  the  work  provided. 

Nevertheless,  however  urgent  the  needs  in  any  given 
community,  the  school  will  not  organize  itself.  Its  in- 
auguration and  perpetuation  will  depend  on  the  efforts  of 
some  leader.  Inarticulate  interests  must  be  made  artic- 
ulate, incentives  to  attendance  must  be  presented,  and 
the  work  must  be  organized  and  continued  in  a  vital, 
gripping  manner.  Progressive  and  ambitious  school- 
men should  recognize  their  opportunities  to  render 
greater  educational  service  by  studying  local  situations 
and,  if  conditions  warrant,  organizing  evening  continua- 
tion work  of  appropriate  kinds. 

Part-Time  Day  Schools.— A  third  very  promising  mode 
of  administering  continuation  work  is  through  part-time 
instruction.  Wherever  such  provision  is  made  the  im- 
pelling thought  is  that  students  shall  be  permitted  to 
attend  school  in  the  daytime  (rather  than  at  night)  and 
shall  not  entirely  interrupt  their  regular  occupations. 
The  work  falls  into  two  main  divisions,  namely,  co- 
operative work  and  independent  work,  and  each  of 
these  divisions  in  turn  may  be  subdivided  into  several 
distinct  minor  forms. 


574  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

By  Co-operative  continuation  work  is  meant  the  shar- 
ing of  the  responsibility  and  the  burden  of  support  by 
both  the  State  and  the  business  firm  in  which  the  stu- 
dent is  employed.  The  principle  that  serves  as  a  jus- 
tification for  this  arrangement  is  that  the  employer  is 
directly  benefited  by  the  increased  training  given  to  his 
employees  as  fully  as  is  the  State.  This  improvement 
is  found  in  increased  intellectual  power,  deepened  sense 
of  moral  responsibility,  and  enhanced  technical  skill.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  State  derives  benefit  through  the 
promise  of  more  enlightened  citizenship  and  the  economic 
independence  on  the  part  of  its  members. 

Co-operative  continuation  work  is,  for  the  most  part, 
carried  on  under  three  main  forms — namely,  in  half-day 
classes,  in  alternate-week  classes,  and  in  weekly  short- 
session  classes.  The  last  form  is  not  infrequently  styled 
"continuation  work,"  pure  and  simple,  the  term  here 
being  used  in  its  narrowest  meaning. 

In  Half-day  continuation  work  students  spend  one 
half  of  each  school  day  in  the  school  pursuing  such  work 
as  they  may  elect.  The  other  half  day  is  employed  in 
shop,  store,  or  other  place  of  business  in  which  they  may 
be  engaged.  Obviously,  wherever  an  arrangement  of  this 
sort  is  made  the  special  interests  of  the  employer  require 
that  at  least  a  portion  of  the  school  work  shall  bear  some- 
what closely  upon  the  technical  duties  devolving  upon 
the  youth  in  the  place  of  business.  The  possibilities  of 
this  form  of  schooling  are  not,  however,  exhausted  here. 
Many  forms  of  business  suffer  no  great  inconvenience  if 
the  operations  of  the  work  are  not  continuous  through- 
out the  entire  day.  Moreover,  among  many  business 
firms  a  boy's  or  a  girl's  services  are  desired  but  part  of  a 
day,  readily  enabling  the  individual,  therefore,  to  devote 


CONTINUATION   WORK  575 

the  other  half  to  school  work.  Since  one  of  the  secrets 
of  keeping  young  men  and  women  a  longer  period  in  the 
schools  is  to  provide  ways  and  means  "to  earn  and 
learn"  at  the  same  time,  and  to  engage  in  greater  social 
and  physical  activities,  it  devolves  upon  the  adminis- 
trators of  our  schools  to  set  such  machinery  in  operation 
as  will  increase  the  interest  in  half-day  schools. 

Alternate-Week  Schools  are  much  more  common  than 
half-day  schools  but  perhaps  give  less  promise  of  suc- 
cessful extension.  The  core  for  their  organization  is 
found  in  industrial  interests.  Schools  of  this  kind  con- 
template the  organization  of  the  continuation-school 
students  into  two  groups — one  group  to  devote  its  entire 
attention  and  efforts  for  a  certain  definite  period  (usu- 
ally a  week  or  a  fortnight)  to  the  theoretical  instruction 
of  the  particular  trade,  the  second  group  to  be  engaged, 
meanwhile,  in  applying  the  theoretical  knowledge  (ac- 
quired the  previous  week  in  the  school)  in  the  actual 
work  of  shop  or  factory.  At  the  end  of  the  given  period 
the  two  groups  exchange  places,  each  group  thereby  al- 
ternately receiving  the  benefits  of  theoretical  and  prac- 
tical training. 

Schools  of  this  type  are  found  in  Fitchburg,  Mass.; 
Cincinnati,  O.;  Kalamazoo,  Mich.,  and  several  other 
cities.  In  no  case  is  the  instruction  confined  solely  to 
technical  trade  knowledge,  but  includes  English  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  the  future  artisan,  shop  mathematics, 
industrial  geography,  industrial  and  commercial  history, 
mechanical  drawing  applied  to  immediate  interests,  fun- 
damental processes  of  physics  and  chemistry  so  far  as 
they  relate  to  the  vocation  in  hand,  shop  practice  and 
problems,  and  elemental  topics  in  civics  and  in  hygiene. 

As  in  the  case  of  half-day  classes,  the  form  of  part- 


576  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

time  training  considered  here  offers  great  possibilities 
for  incorporation  into  the  school  system  of  every  indus- 
trial community,  but  just  as  in  the  case  of  half-day 
classes  the  successful  organization  and  administration  of 
them  depend  to  a  large  degree  upon  the  strength,  fore- 
sight, and  tact  of  the  superintendent  or  other  school 
administrator  in  charge.  For  the  time  being  only  the 
voluntary  co-operation  of  employees  can  be  expected; 
but  even  this  will  not  be  secured  in  large  measure  unless 
the  plan  and  purposes  are  clearly  revealed  to  them  and 
the  mutual  advantages  are  pointed  out.  In  most  cases, 
therefore,  the  initiative  must  come  from  the  public- 
school  officials. 

The  type  of  part-time  co-operative  school  that  offers 
the  most  promise  of  all,  that  is,  seemingly,  easiest  of  es- 
tablishment and  of  administration,  and  that  has,  up  to 
date,  made  the  strongest  appeal  to  educators  and  to  lay- 
men is  the  Weekly  sliort-session  class,  or  the  continua- 
tion school  in  the  popular  meaning  of  the  term.  These 
schools  are  designed  to  receive  young  men  and  women 
for  a  few  hours  per  week  and  to  give  them  theoretical 
instruction  in  the  field  of  their  daily  occupations.  But 
in  order  to  buttress  this  theoretical  special  knowledge 
the  instruction  most  commonly  seeks  to  teach  also  the 
fundamental  principles  and  processes  upon  which  the 
special  art  depends  and  to  give  a  practical  training  in 
instrumental  subjects,  such  as  English,  arithmetic,  spell- 
ing, writing,  and  drawing.  In  many  instances  some  at- 
tention is  given  to  hygiene,  civics,  ethical  principles, 
gymnastics,  folk  dancing,  swimming,  and  the  conventions 
incident  to  the  special  vocation. 

The  time  allotted  to  these  short-session  classes  varies 
from  two  hours  per  week  to  ten  or  twelve  hours.     Most 


CONTINUATION   WORK  577 

frequently  the  class  meets  one  half  day  per  week  for  a 
period  of  six  months  or  longer.  Thus,  for  example,  in 
Kansas  City,  Kans.,  the  afternoon  sessions  of  this  type 
of  school  extend  from  2.30  to  5.30  o'clock.  In  Detroit, 
Mich.,  the  forenoon  sessions  extend  from  7  o'clock  to  n 
for  girls  in  factories,  and  from  8  to  1 2  o'clock  for  girls  in 
stores;  the  afternoon  sessions  for  young  men  extend  from 
1  to  5.30  o'clock.     In  both  cities  all  classes  meet  weekly. 

It  is,  of  course,  highly  essential  to  students  and  em- 
ployers alike  that  any  continuation  work  that  is  under- 
taken shall  be  carried  forward  sufficiently  long  and  suffi- 
ciently regularly  to  yield  real  advantages  to  both.  To 
insure  this  prolonged  effort,  Detroit,  for  example,  admits 
no  student  to  this  type  of  continuation  classes  until  a 
contract  has  been  executed  by  the  student,  the  employer, 
and  the  agent  of  the  school.  By  this  contract  the  em- 
ployer agrees  to  permit  his  employees  to  attend  the  con- 
tinuation school  one  half  day  per  week  throughout  a 
period  of  two  years,  and  the  student  agrees  to  "attend 
the  school  regularly  and  promptly  the  full  time  and  to 
perform  all  work  to  be  done  both  in  and  out  of  the  school 
to  the  best  of  his  ability."  The  ideal  plan  also  contem- 
plates that  the  employer  shall  not  deduct  from  the  wage 
of  his  employees  because  of  their  attendance  on  the 
school,  inasmuch  as  such  instruction  conduces  to  his  own 
(direct)  advantage. 

In  all  schools  of  this  kind  the  work  must,  in  the  nature 
of  the  case,  be  flexible.  To  quote  from  the  Detroit  an- 
nouncement: "  It  is  not  the  aim  to  maintain  hard  and 
fast  courses  of  study,  but  rather  to  give  the  student  what 
he  needs  to  know  next,  in  order  that  his  efficiency  may 
increase  as  rapidly  as  possible." 

That   the   results   of   the   short-session   continuation 


578  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

school  are  thoroughly  satisfactory  (if  the  work  is  well 
conducted)  can  be  gathered  from  excerpts  from  a  recent 
bulletin  issued  by  the  Board  of  Education  of  Detroit: 
"  Progress  has  been  marked  from  the  very  first  and 
employers  are  unanimous  in  their  opinion  that  the  work 
is  a  paying  investment.  The  students  have  shown 
great  earnestness  and  sincerity  of  purpose,  voluntarily 
doing  considerable  study  and  preparation  outside  of 
shop  and  class  hours.  The  general  comment  of  super- 
intendents and  foremen  is  that  the  boys  are  neater  in 
their  personal  habits  and  dress,  show  keener  interest  in 
their  work,  and  more  loyalty  to  the  firm." 

An  essential  feature  of  all  types  of  continuation  in- 
struction is  "  follow-up  work."  Through  visits  to  the 
homes  and  shops  continuation  school  administrators 
should  seek  to  become  familiar  with  the  home  and 
working  conditions  of  their  charges  and  to  help  each 
one  to  solve  the  particular  problems  that  surround  him. 
In  addition,  vocational  bureaus  should  be  maintained 
and  students  aided  in  planning  their  careers  and  in  se- 
curing suitable  positions. 

Obviously,  the  teachers  in  continuation  schools  must 
be  men  and  women  who  are  acquainted  with  the  prac- 
tical side  of  industry  as  well  as  with  the  theoretical 
principles  underlying  it.  In  the  nature  of  the  case  it 
is  not  easy  as  yet  to  secure  many  teachers  who  are  thus 
adequately  fitted  for  the  work.  No  doubt  practical 
shopmen  who  have  had  a  fair  degree  of  liberal  culture 
will  render  the  best  service  under  existing  conditions. 
But  there  is  imperative  need  for  the  development  of 
training  schools  that  shall  prepare  teachers  for  these 
newer  types  of  work. 

In  addition  to  the  short-session  continuation  work 


CONTINUATION   WORK  579 

held  within  public-school  buildings,  there  is  need  for  sim- 
ilar schools  that  shall  be  conducted  within  the  shops  or 
stores  or  other  places  of  business  themselves.  For  some 
time  past  private  undertakings  of  this  kind  have  been 
instituted  by  employers  for  their  employees,  but  the 
newer  ideal  contemplates  the  incorporation  of  this  work 
in  the  public-school  system.  Under  this  arrangement 
the  factory  or  store  is,  as  heretofore,  to  furnish  the  school- 
room and  the  equipment,  but,  in  place  of  purely  technical 
instruction  given  by  some  of  the  more  experienced  em- 
ployees of  the  plant  itself,  the  instruction  is  to  include 
both  general  and  trade  knowledge  and  is  to  be  presented 
by  trained  public-school  teachers  who  visit  the  places  of 
business  for  that  purpose.  Where  the  consent  of  the 
employer  can  readily  be  obtained,  work  of  this  kind  can 
doubtless  best  be  given  at  stated  times  within  the  work- 
ing day.  Where  employees  are  more  or  less  indifferent 
to  the  obligations,  the  work  can  best  be  conducted  dur- 
ing the  hour  of  noon  intermission.  This  latter  alterna- 
tive must,  however,  be  but  a  temporary  experiment  to 
demonstrate  to  proprietor  and  employees  the  mutual 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  continuation  work  of 
the  kind. 

Obviously,  continuation  work  conducted  in  the  shop 
or  store  has  the  doubtful  advantage  of  reducing  the 
time  necessary  to  receive  the  instruction.  It  also  will 
often  save  car-fare  for  many  persons  to  and  from  the 
school  building.  It  is  a  question,  though,  if  the  change 
in  environment  secured  by  conducting  classes  in  other 
places  than  the  industrial  centre  itself  may  not  prove  a 
stimulus  that  is  educationally  and  economically  ad- 
vantageous. As  a  means,  however,  of  interesting  em- 
ployers in  the  operation  of  the  other  types  of  co-opera- 


580  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

tive  continuation  work,  the  factory  or  store  school  has 
its  values. 

Of  the  Independent  or  non-cooperative  part-time  con- 
tinuation schools  little  has  as  yet  been  heard.  Nev- 
ertheless, they  are  rich  in  possibilities  for  extending  the 
scope  and  advantages  of  the  public  schools.  Among  the 
various  forms  which  continuation  work  of  this  kind 
takes  are  adult  classes  in  the  regular  and  evening  schools. 
The  object  of  such  organizations  is  to  enable  adults  who 
desire  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunities  offered  by 
the  public  schools  to  do  so  without  interfering  with  the 
instruction  of  younger  people  in  the  schools,  and  without 
subjecting  themselves  to  their  unthinking  criticisms. 
Adult  classes  may  be  organized  to  give  education  purely 
in  the  interest  of  liberal  culture  and  enjoyment,  or  for 
the  sake  of  application  in  the  workaday  routine  of  the 
individual  receiving  it.  Thus,  for  example,  the  Kansas 
City,  Kans.,  afternoon  and  evening  schools  are  organized 
(among  other  purposes)  "  to  offer  opportunities  for  adults 
who  may  desire  to  carry  on  some  definite  and  systematic 
educational  work,"  and  the  following  subjects  are  of- 
fered: arithmetic,  English  grammar,  penmanship,  short- 
hand, spelling,  elementary  English,  advanced  English, 
physical  training,  reading  (for  persons  desiring  to  learn 
the  English  language),  science  of  government,  book- 
keeping, typewriting,  cooking,  sewing,  china  painting, 
mechanic  arts,  and  mechanical  drawing.  If  an  articu- 
late demand  should  be  made  for  their  inclusion,  there  is 
no  logical  reason  why  any  other  subjects  regularly  found 
in  the  programme  of  studies  should  not  be  offered  to 
adults  on  equal  conditions  with  the  above.  In  fact,  the 
following  courses  are  offered  in  some  parts  of  the  coun- 
try: history,  music   (including  harmony,   counterpoint, 


CONTINUATION   WORK  581 

and  the  history  of  music),  history  of  art,  foreign  lan- 
guages, special  courses  in  science,  gymnastics,  and  swim- 
ming. In  the  future,  therefore,  adult  classes  in  the  high 
•  schools  must  be  made  a  permanent  feature  of  all  sys- 
tems, for  one  of  the  clearest  lessons  continuation  work  is 
impressing  is  that  the  schools  are  organized  in  the  inter- 
est of  all  members  of  society,  provided  they  choose  to 
take  advantage  of  their  opportunities. 

Still  another  form  of  part-time  provision  is  the  opening 
of  the  regular  high  school  courses  to  the  special  student. 
This  plan  not  only  permits  but  encourages  the  ambitious 
young  man  or  woman  whose  main  interests  lie  in  fields 
outside  the  school,  or  whose  state  of  health  will  not  per- 
mit carrying  the  full  allotment  of  work  in  the  school,  to 
elect  a  single  course  (if  desired)  and  to  be  exempt  from 
all  regular  school  discipline.  This  plan  does  not  require 
the  toleration  of  the  drone,  the  hopelessly  incompetent, 
or  the  lawless;  it  merely  tempers  the  breeze  to  the  shorn 
lamb.  While  it  is  true  nearly  every  high  school  in  the 
past  has  had  its  irregular  or  special  students,  the  fact  is 
nevertheless  true  that  all  cours.es  have  been  made  unrea- 
sonably difficult  rather  than  guardedly  easy  of  entrance 
to  the  special  student. 

Visiting-Student  Work  differs  little  from  work  per- 
mitted to  the  special  student.  The  latter  pursues  the 
courses  he  elects  and  receives  credit  toward  graduation 
when  satisfactorily  completing  them.  Within  the  par- 
ticular course  elected  the  special  student  is  held  amen- 
able to  the  requirements  exacted  of  all  others.  The 
auditor  or  visiting  student  attends  the  course  with  no 
thought  of  credit  and  does  as  much  or  as  little  inde- 
pendent study  as  he  sees  fit.  His  object  in  attending 
classes  is  to  listen  to  the  discussions  and  to  gain  a  general 
appreciation  of  the  subject  treated. 


582  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Supervised  Out-of-Class  Work  has  as  yet  received 
little  attention  by  the  high  schools.  There  are,  how- 
ever, two  feasible  ways  of  providing  this  kind  of  con- 
struction work.  One  is  through  private  study  and 
special  reports  made  directly  to  the  teacher  in  charge 
at  regular,  stated  intervals.  The  other  allows  high 
school  credit  for  work  done  outside  the  school  provided 
it  be  certified  to  by  some  responsible  person.  In  the 
first  case  supervision  is  frequent  and  direct;  in  the  second 
case  it  is  at  longer  intervals  and  indirect.  Both  plans 
have  for  their  object  the  fostering  of  continuation  work 
— the  one  seeking  to  encourage  the  youth  who  cannot 
attend  school  at  all  to  continue  systematic  study  by 
himself;  the  other  seeking  to  stimulate  the  regular  stu- 
dent who  has  aptitudes  and  interests  not  cultivated  in 
the  school  to  pursue  those  interests  under  private  tui- 
tion and  to  be  accorded  high  school  credit  therefor. 
Among  the  subjects  thus  recognized  should  be  the  study 
of  music,  fine  arts,  and  commercial  branches  and  ac- 
tivities carried  forward  at  home  or  in  business.  Among 
the  latter  may  be  included  domestic  science  and  art 
work,  agricultural  and  horticultural  work,  and  similar 
occupations  when  regularly  and  satisfactorily  performed. 

Sunday  Schools. — A  last  form  of  continuation  work 
to  be  mentioned  under  this  category  is  that  provided  in 
Sunday  schools.  Little  advantage  has  so  far  been  taken 
of  the  possibilities  of  this  type  of  school.  Whatever  be 
one's  religious  beliefs  and  whatever  be  one's  attitude 
toward  the  appropriate  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  there 
is  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  the  spirit  of  a  day  of  rest 
implies  not  wasteful  idleness  but  wholesome  activities 
tending  to  strengthen  the  body  through  change  of  occu- 
pation.    Hence,  by  opening  the  high  school  on  Sundays 


CONTINUATION   WORK  5S3 

to  such  as  are  unable  to  pursue  work  at  other  times, 
and  by  making  the  appeal  varied  and  strong,  true  bene- 
fits may  be  rendered  to  many  types  of  people  who  would 
otherwise  not  only  not  receive  them  at  all  but  in  many 
cases  (it  must  be  believed)  would  employ  the  day  in  ac- 
quiring vicious  knowledge  and  habits.  Certainly  there 
can  be  no  more  serious  objection  to  Sunday  lectures 
in  the  high  school  than  in  the  art  gallery  or  museum, 
nor  to  pursuing  class  work  quietly  than  to  playing  base- 
ball noisily. 

Continuation  Schools  for  Exceptional  Children. — 
Schools  of  this  kind  fall  under  three  classifications,  viz., 
those  for  the  physically,  the  morally,  and  the  mentally 
defective.  In  the  past  such  schools  (where  organized) 
have  rarely  provided  more  than  elementary  instruction. 
The  new  conception  of  the  function  of  public  education 
demands,  however,  that  (if  ability  will  permit)  the  edu- 
cation of  these  unfortunate  classes  shall  not  terminate 
here.  Hence  it  is  that  continuation  work  particularly 
adapted  to  the  special  needs  of  each  type  of  defectives 
finds  co-ordinate  place  in  any  complete  scheme  of  public 
schools. 

For  the  deaf  and  dumb,  the  blind,  and  the  deformed 
and  crippled  children  special  equipment,  specially  trained 
teachers,  and  specially  outlined  vocational  material  are 
obviously  absolutely  essential  to  any  adequate  prosecu- 
tion of  the  work.  For  the  tubercular  children  and  for 
other  children  of  delicate  health  the  most  promising 
agency  of  benefit  is  the  open-air  schools.  For  the  in- 
corrigibles  the  current  psychological,  sociological,  and 
economic  theory  is  that  the  inhibition  of  antisocial  ten- 
dencies can  best  be  secured  through  the  substitution  of 
counteracting  interests  and  the  habituation  to  beneficent 


584  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

actions.  Hence  the  demand  arises  for  the  isolation  of  the 
individuals  of  this  type  in  classes  in  which  much  training 
in  social  responsibility  may  be  secured  and  in  which 
appeals  may  be  made  in  unusual  ways.  For  the  treat- 
ment of  the  higher  types  of  mental  defectives  much  the 
same  principles  and  policies  must  be  adopted  as  in  the 
case  of  the  incorrigibles.  Hence,  continuation  work  of 
appropriate  kinds  can  alone  provide  a  schooling  that 
will  prove  of  much  personal  and  social  benefit  to  mem- 
bers of  these  exceptional  classes.  In  the  nature  of  the 
case  much  of  this  instruction  must  centre  about  motor 
interests,  and  therefore  an  unusual  proportion  of  the 
material  must  consist  of  plays,  games,  and  specific  vo- 
cational knowledge. 

Improvement  of  Teacher. — Two  forms  of  continua- 
tion work  relating  primarily  to  the  improvement  of 
teachers  in  service  may  be  mentioned.  These  are 
Teachers1  Study  Clubs  and  Teachers'  Institutes.  A  third 
form  in  which  the  continued  development  of  the  teach- 
ers constitutes  a  joint  object  with  the  instruction  of 
the  parents  is  the  Teachers'  and  Parents'  Associations. 
In  each  of  these  the  work  is  usually  conducted  within 
the  public-school  buildings  and,  in  part  at  least,  at  public 
expense.  It  may,  therefore,  appropriately  be  styled  con- 
tinuation work.  Within  each  association  topics  are  con- 
sidered that  have  for  their  object  the  vocational  im- 
provement of  teachers  or  the  general  enlightenment  of 
parents.  The  work  is,  therefore,  distinctively  of  an  edu- 
cational character  and  is  entitled  to  a  conspicuous  place 
in  any  scheme  of  public  schools. 

People's  Schools. — Three  other  types  of  continuation 
work  that  may  be  mentioned,  but  that  as  yet  have  re- 
ceived little  attention,  are  the  People's  High  Schools, 


CONTINUATION    WORK  585 

the  People's  "Eleven-day  Courses,"  and  the  People  s 
Institutes.  The  first  of  these  contemplates  the  or- 
ganization of  systematic  high  school  instruction  for 
adults,  such  schools  to  be  operated  during  the  three,  four, 
five,  or  six  months  of  winter,  and  to  provide  those  who 
wish  to  attend  them  with  the  means  of  securing  a  con- 
tinuous high  school  course  of  training  during  the  period 
in  which  they  are  open.  This  type  of  school  is  in  very 
successful  operation  in  Denmark  and  other  northern 
European  countries  and  is  spreading  to  other  parts  of 
Europe.  For  the  most  part,  the  schools  are  designed  for 
young  men  and  women  eighteen  years  of  age  or  older 
whose  early  education  has  been  interrupted  or  neglected 
and  whose  more  mature  ambitions  lead  them  to  seek  to 
improve  their  general  education.  To  quote  from  Sadler: 
"The  Danish  schools  of  this  type  have  in  an  unwonted 
degree  fostered  the  love  of  country,  given  a  thirst  for 
knowledge,  imparted  to  industry  ingenuity  and  success, 
and  made  life  in  many  simple  homes  fuller  of  nobler  in- 
terests and  higher  cares."1  This  type  of  school  offers 
great  promise  for  American  educators.  It  here  (as  in 
Denmark)  can  be  made  to  serve  the  residents  of  rural 
communities  in  a  most  wholesome  and  beneficial  manner. 
People's  "eleven-day  courses"  constitute  a  second 
form  of  continuation  work  for  adults  that  has  received 
its  most  complete  testing  in  Denmark  but  that  is  not 
entirely  untried  in  America.  Under  this  form  (as  con- 
ducted in  Denmark)  new  courses  of  instruction  in  various 
lines  of  practical  knowledge  are  begun  in  certain  schools 
on  the  first  and  third  Tuesdays  of  each  month  and  ex- 
tend for  eleven  days.  Not  infrequently  husbands  and 
wives  attend  these  schools  together  for  a  fortnight  or 

1  Sadler,  "Continuation  Schools,"  p.  483. 


586  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

more  at  a  time,  and  much  good  is  accomplished  in  dis- 
seminating scientific  knowledge  and  scientific  ways  of 
carrying  on  vocational  occupations.  Just  as  with  the 
people's  high  schools,  the  "eleven-day  courses"  or  some 
courses  of  similar  form  suggest  enormous  possibilities  for 
America. 

A  modified  type  of  the  " eleven-day  courses"  is  the 
people's  institute.  This  seeks  to  do  in  a  limited  way 
and  by  means  of  a  school  lasting  though  two  or  three 
days  what  other  types  of  schools  just  mentioned  seek 
to  accomplish  (in  a  larger  way)  during  a  longer  period  of 
time.  Thus,  for  example,  at  Bangor,  Mich.,  people's 
institutes  are  held  once  or  twice  per  year  in  connection 
with  the  agricultural  courses  in  the  high  school.  At 
these  institutes  (at  which  are  gathered  farmers  and  their 
wives  as  well  as  the  students  in  the  agricultural  course 
in  the  high  school)  addresses  are  given  by  agricultural 
college  men  or  others;  visits  of  inspection  are  made  to 
adjoining  farms,  stables,  shops,  and  stores;  illustrative 
materials  are  studied;  discussions  are  carried  on;  and, 
finally,  the  leader  in  charge  summarizes  the  findings  and 
points  out  the  practical  lessons.  Among  the  features 
of  these  institutes  are  stock  judging,  corn  judging,  soil- 
fertility  tests,  and  similar  activities.  Like  the  people's 
high  school  and  the  people's  "eleven-day  courses,"  the 
people's  institute  constitutes  a  feasible  and  desirable 
mode  of  providing  continuation  work  for  rural  communi- 
ties. Such  institutes  can  be  multiplied  with  great  ad- 
vantage to  society. 

Extension  Courses. — Finally  one  further  mode  of  pro- 
viding continuation  work  may  be  considered.  This  is 
through  high  school  extension  courses.  This  plan  of 
making  the  school  serve  a  wider  educational  function  is 


CONTINUATION   WORK  587 

already  in  extensive  operation  throughout  many  sections 
of  the  country.  By  means  of  semipopular  lectures  on 
vocational,  semivocational,  and  liberalizing  topics;  by 
means  of  moving  pictures,  stereopticon  entertainments, 
dramatics,  and  musicales;  and  by  means  of  school  exhibi- 
tions, school  contests,  and  meetings  for  open  discussion,  a 
constituency  is  being  reached  by  the  high  school  that 
is  in  pole  equal  to  the  population  of  the  school  district. 
Indeed,  the  expenditure  of  public  moneys  for  the  oper- 
ation of  this  kind  of  continuation  work  has,  in  many 
places,  aggregated  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars  annually. 
Nor  seemingly  is  there  any  wiser  or  more  legitimate  form 
of  expenditure  of  public-school  funds. 

Where  courses  of  these  kinds  are  provided  they  usually 
are  given  in  the  evening,  but  there  is  no  valid  reason  why 
they  should  not  be  given  Saturday  and  Sunday  after- 
noons and  on  holidays,  provided  only  an  audience  can 
be  secured  at  those  times.  High  school  extension  work 
of  this  kind  has  barely  entered  the  field  of  possibilities. 
It  can  advantageously  be  developed  in  various  ways. 

Continuation  work  in  America,  therefore,  has  already 
been  instituted  in  many  places  and  in  many  diverse 
forms.  The  movement  must  continue.  If  the  public 
schools  are,  indeed,  to  be  truly  public  schools,  the  scope 
of  their  work  must  expand  as  knowledge  and  processes 
increase  and  as  society  becomes  more  complex.  More- 
over, the  ideal  requires  that  an  increased  flexibility  shall 
be  introduced  in  all  forms  of  administration  and  that 
the  schools  shall  not  be  conducted  to  give  training  to  in- 
dividuals with  certain  interests  only  or  to  those  who  are 
included  within  certain  arbitrarily  chosen  age  limits. 

What  particular  form  the  continuation  work  shall  take 


588  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

in  any  particular  place  can  best  be  left  to  local  condi- 
tions to  determine.  The  ideal  must  be,  however,  to  pro- 
vide it  in  such  ways  and  in  such  manner  as  shall  appeal 
to  all  types  of  citizens.  To  accomplish  this,  undoubtedly 
several  of  the  different  agencies  above  must  be  employed 
in  each  community. 

Administration. — Whether  continuation  work  shall  be 
administered  as  a  separate  and  distinct  type  of  public- 
school  work  and  be  controlled  by  a  body  of  administra- 
tors other  than  the  administrators  of  the  existing  regular 
schools  is,  after  all,  of  little  significance.  The  essential 
thing  is  in  some  way  to  secure  continuation  work  for  all. 
The  only  argument  against  the  dual  form  of  administra- 
tion that  is  of  any  importance  is  that  class  distinctions 
will  be  formed  in  the  schools,  and  hence  in  society,  if  the 
dual  form  is  perpetuated.  If  the  danger  were  realizable 
it  would  be  critical,  but  it  is  not  realizable.  Class  and 
group  and  community  interests  will  always  exist,  but 
providing  for  these  under  separate  roofs  is  no  whit  differ- 
ent in  principle  than  providing  for  them  under  the 
same  roof.  A  public  school  will  ultimately  serve  social 
needs  or  it  will  be  abolished.  If  the  separate  continua- 
tion school  shall  be  found  to  serve  social  needs  best,  that 
will  be  the  permanent  form. 

But  throughout  this  chapter  the  position  has  been  held 
that  there  is  no  valid  reason  why  continuation  work  shall 
not  be  administered  as  a  co-ordinate,  organic  part  of  our 
present  system  of  schools.  The  true  scope  of  the  high 
school  has  been  considered  as  extending  over  the  entire 
period  of  adolescence  and  including  all  forms  of  work 
provided  for  it.  This  conception  requires,  therefore, 
that  continuation  work,  i.  e.,  work  different  from  work  as 
at  present  organized  and  administered,  must  begin  with 


CONTINUATION   WORK  589 

the  seventh  grade  and  be  carried  through  to  an  unde- 
fined limit  of  age  and  attainment. 

Continuation  work  considers  the  welfare  of  the  State 
and  of  civil  society  as  fully  as  it  considers  the  individual. 
Hence,  ways  and  means  must  be  provided  for  giving 
continuation  training  to  all  classes  of  youths.  This  fact 
makes  incumbent  on  society  the  establishment  of  a  much 
longer  period  of  compulsory  school  attendance.  Some 
States  have  already  enacted  laws  requiring  boys  and 
girls  to  be  in  school  until  sixteen  years  of  age  unless 
they  have  secured  permanent  positions.  The  law  is 
inadequate.  Compulsory  continuation  work  for  all  dur- 
ing a  period  of  four  or  five  hours  per  week  for  at  least 
two  years  must  be  the  legal  requirement.  Morality, 
business,  government,  and  culture  alike  demand  this 
continued  training. 

Obstacles. — The  greatest  obstacles  to  the  further  de- 
velopment of  continuation  work  at  the  present  time  are 
two:  first,  the  lack  of  money,  and,  secondly,  the  lack  of 
adequately  prepared  teachers.  Public  education  is  an 
affair  of  the  State  or  nation,  not  of  the  local  community 
alone.  Hence,  it  is  both  essential  and  proper  that  the 
burdens  of  the  schools  shall  be  borne,  in  part  at  least,  by 
the  State  and  the  United  States.  To  this  end  friends  of 
public  education  everywhere,  and  particularly  the  friends 
of  continuation  work,  must  co-operate  in  the  effort  to 
secure  national  and  State  aid  for  public  education.  With 
adequate  financial  means  available,  the  second  obstacle 
— that  of  securing  qualified  teachers — will  disappear; 
for,  whenever  the  position  of  teachers  is  made  as  at- 
tractive as  other  professions  and  callings,  there  will  be 
available  teachers. 

To  summarize,  it  is  clear  that  at  the  present  time  there 


590  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL- 

is  a  complete  reversal  of  attitude  on  the  part  of  school 
administrators  respecting  the  purpose,  plan,  and  admin- 
istration of  public  education.  Formerly  the  position 
most  frequently  taken  was:  Here  is  a  school  and  a  cur- 
riculum organized  alike  for  all.  It  is  the  privilege  of  all 
to  enter  it  and  remain  a  definite  period  of  time,  but  uni- 
formity must  be  the  guiding  principle  of  administration. 
To-day  the  ideal  is  to  give  every  boy  and  girl  the  educa- 
tion that  he  or  she  needs.  Post-elementary  education  in 
particular  calls  for  differentiation  of  schools  and  school 
work.  The  response  to  this  call  is  the  development  of 
the  continuation  school.  Such  schools  already  have 
proved  themselves  socially  expedient,  administratively 
feasible,  politically  advantageous,  and  economically  prof- 
itable. Investigations,  too,  prove  conclusively  that,  to 
be  of  most  service,  continuation  work,  as  the  term  is  here 
used,  must  begin  with  early  adolescence  and  continue 
into  mature  adulthood.  This  is  the  work  that,  in  Amer- 
ica, falls  primarily  within  the  range  of  secondary  educa- 
tion. It  is,  therefore,  appropriate  to  regard  all  forms  of 
it  as  added  functions  of  the  high  school.  Moreover,  if 
continuation  work  is  to  be  adequate  to  meet  the  urgent 
demands  of  business,  the  State,  and  civil  society,  it  must 
be  obligatory  on  all  and  must  gradually  lead  out  from 
the  egoistic  vocational  interests  of  individuals  to  higher 
social,  civic,  and  moral  interests.  Hence,  continuation 
work  in  the  schools  must  of  necessity  relate  itself  to 
allied  social  questions  and  to  social  agencies  other  than 
the  school  which  seek  the  general  welfare  of  human 
beings. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 
SOCIALIZING  FUNCTION  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  LIBRARY 

Florence  M.  Hopkins 

LIBRARIAN,   CENTRAL   SCHOOL,   DETROIT,   MICH. 

Growing  Conception  of  the  Function  of  the  Library. — 

The  marked  growth  of  the  high  school  library  in  the  past 
decade  reveals  the  fact  that  we  are  facing  the  rising  tide 
of  its  place  and  influence  in  high  school  life  and  educa- 
tion. The  attention  given  to  it  in  conventions  and  jour- 
nals of  late  years  is  another  evidence  of  the  fact  that 
its  value  is  being  appreciated  and  its  development  stud- 
ied. According  to  the  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion, there  were  11,734  public  and  private  high  school 
libraries  in  the  United  States  in  191 2,  representing  nearly 
9,000,000  volumes.  The  first  step,  therefore,  that  of 
supplying  books  for  definite  reference  work,  has  been 
taken.  The  need  of  supplying  books  in  duplicate  for 
large  classes  is  also  generally  conceded.  The  seeking  of 
the  library  by  the  pupil,  when  he  is  in  need  of  infor- 
mation, is  an  established  habit;  but  the  seeking  of  the 
pupil  by  the  library  is  a  field  just  beginning  to  be  de- 
veloped and  might  be  termed  the  socializing  function 
of  the  library. 

The  Socializing  Function  of  the  Public  Library. — The 
seeking  of  the  patron  by  the  library  is  best  illustrated  by 
the  marked  change  in  public-library  administration  in 

591 


592  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  past  generation.  Most  of  us  adults  never  knew,  as 
children,  the  joy  of  a  room  all  our  own  in  a  library,  with 
friezes  on  the  wall,  inviting  grate  fires,  beautifully  illus- 
trated books  for  us  to  handle,  and  some  one  to  tell  us 
stories  from  them.  The  children's  library,  with  its  free- 
dom in  handling  books  selected  by  experts,  and  with 
direction  through  the  story  hour,  is  a  comparatively  re- 
cent feature  which,  no  doubt,  will  prove  to  be  one  of 
the  farthest-reaching  influences  for  culture  in  Ameri- 
can childhood.  A  corresponding  social  feature  for  adults 
is  being  developed  by  popular  lectures,  general  open 
shelves,  and  study  rooms.  Indeed,  the  entire  archi- 
tecture of  the  library  has  been  changed  to  meet  this 
growing  social  need.  No  public  library  is  now  erected 
without  including  a  children's  room  and  an  auditorium, 
as  unquestionably  as  it  does  a  reference  room  or  a  stack 
room.  Attention  is  also  being  given  to  encouraging  the 
appointment  of  social  directors  in  connection  with  the 
use  of  the  public-library  plant.1 

The  Socializing  Function  of  the  College  Library. — Col- 
leges are  also  enlarging  their  conception  of  the  function 
of  the  library  so  as  to  include  the  social  element.  Brows- 
ing rooms,  social-study  rooms,  club  rooms,  and  racks  of 
new  books  for  general  reading  are  to  be  found  in  most 
university  libraries.  In  Yale  University  a  special  room 
has  been  established  in  Byers  Hall  as  a  social  and  reading 
centre  for  the  students  of  the  scientific  department.  It 
aims  to  be  a  select  library  of  a  few  thousand  volumes, 
covering  standard  works  in  a  wide  field,  and  is  open  with- 
out restriction,  though  books  are  not  withdrawn  from  its 
shelves  for  outside  use.  The  room  is  comfortably  fur- 
nished and  is  an  attractive  lounging  and  browsing  place 
1  Survey,  February,  1913,  p.  675. 


SOCIALIZING   FUNCTION   OF   THE  LIBRARY       593 

for  the  students.  It  is  also  used  as  a  social  meeting-place 
for  informal  addresses. 

The  Brothers  and  Linonia  Library,  a  somewhat  simi- 
lar institution  at  Yale,  is  housed  in  the  University  Li- 
brary and  contains,  roughly,  twenty-five  thousand,  vol- 
umes, with  free  access  to  the  books.  It  is  selected  to 
cover  the  whole  field  of  knowledge,  and  aims  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  general  readers  as  opposed  to  those 
of  the  special  students  whose  wants  are  met  elsewhere. 

The  Socializing  Function  of  the  High  School  Library. 
— The  college  library,  however,  reaches  only  that  very 
small  percentage  of  high  school  pupils  who  continue 
their  education  beyond  high  school  age;  the  public 
library,  on  the  other  hand,  can  reach  all  who  have  a  por- 
tion of  leisure  time  and  the  power  and  desire  for  self- 
direction.  One  of  the  most  important  functions,  there- 
fore, of  the  high  school  library  is  to  introduce  pupils  to 
the  wise  use  and  enjoyment  of  the  public  library.  This 
introduction  should  be  made  by  bringing  the  library  to 
the  pupil.  Trips,  conducted  by  the  school  librarian, 
through  the  public  library,  talks  by  the  public-library 
staff  to  parents  and  pupils  on  home  reading,  books  sent 
by  the  public  library  to  the  school  and  examined  in- 
formally by  pupils  and  school  librarian  together,  and 
many  other  plans  can  be  devised  for  awakening  this  feel- 
ing of  an  ownership  in  and  a  responsibility  for  the  public 
library. 

One  of  the  most  progressive  libraries  in  its  social  activ- 
ities is  the  Girls'  High  School  Library,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
At  the  beginning  of  each  term  the  head  of  the  English 
department  arranges  for  each  entering  class  in  English 
to  spend  one  period  in  the  library  or  to  visit  the  library 
after  school  hours.     The  librarian  shows  them  the  illus- 


594  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

trated  books  which  will  make  their  English  work  inter- 
esting, escorts  them  over  the  library,  explains  the  pictures 
on  the  walls  and  available  mounted  pictures,  shows  them 
where  different  classes  of  books  are  shelved  and  where  to 
find  books  recommended  for  outside  reading.  An  in- 
formal reception  each  term  is  also  given  the  pupils  of 
the  incoming  class.  Shortly  afterward  an  evening  re- 
ception is  extended  to  parents  by  the  principal,  the  li- 
brarian, and  the  teachers  to  encourage  the  discussion  of 
general  reading  and  the  building  up  of  home  libraries. 
The  library  is  the  centre  of  many  clubs  which  meet  after 
school  hours  under  the  direction  of  teachers  and  librari- 
ans; for  example,  a  City  history  club,  a  Biology  read- 
ing club,  a  General  literary  club,  and  others. 

The  use  of  bulletin-boards  in  the  corridors  for  the  post- 
ing of  newspaper  clippings  on  current  events  is  another 
prominent  and  valuable  social  feature  of  this  library. 
The  clippings  are  made  by  pupils  under  the  direction  of 
the  librarian.  Different  pupils,  usually  in  sets  of  two  or 
four,  are  given  charge  of  the  boards  for  a  week  at  a  time. 
The  plan  is  a  very  simple  one  and  does  much  in  creating 
a  social  atmosphere. 

Pupils  who  have  free  study  periods  are  urged  to  go 
to  the  library  to  read  for  the  pure  joy  of  reading.  A 
browsing  corner  of  good  editions  of  interesting  biog- 
raphies, novels,  poems,  and  essays  is  made  attractive 
by  the  use  of  picture  post-cards  and  bulletin-boards. 
Plants  in  all  the  windows  and  a  spirit  of  welcome  make 
the  library  a  most  beloved  place,  and  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  students  use  it  every  forty  minutes. 

Different  High  Schools  Developing  Special  Phases. — 
Several  special  phases  of  work  in  connection  with  high 
school  libraries  have  been  developed  in  different  high 


SOCIALIZING   FUNCTION  OF  THE   LIBRARY       595 

schools  and  are  more  or  less  definitely  embodied  in  the 
school  curriculum.  We  might  name  these  phases  as  the 
practical  phase,  the  vocational  phase,  the  civic  phase,  and 
the  cultural  phase.  No  one  school  has,  as  yet,  been  able 
to  embody  them  all,  nor  will  it  be  able  to  do  so  until  the 
library  is  made  a  department  in  the  school  with  the  power 
to  develop  its  interests  under  special  directors,  just  as 
different  courses  of  language,  of  science,  of  mathematics 
are  now  being  developed  under  teachers  especially  pre- 
pared for  the  work. 

The  Practical  Phase  and  the  Vocational  Phase. — The 
practical  phase,  that  of  teaching  the  use  of  reference 
books,  simple  indexes,  and  necessary  library  tools  to  aid 
pupils  in  their  search  for  material  is  now  quite  generally 
introduced.  It  has  been  so  thoroughly  outlined  in  Vol- 
ume I  of  this  work  as  to  need  no  further  discussion  here. 

The  vocational  phase,  that  phase  which  studies  and 
directs  the  reading  of  pupils  in  lines  of  their  vocational 
interests,  is  probably  best  systematized  in  the  Central 
High  School  of  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.  Under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  English  department,  readings  and  essays  are 
assigned  which  aim  to  awaken  the  pupil's  interest  in  his 
future  place  in  the  world  of  action,  and  to  aid  him  to  de- 
termine what  he  is  best  fitted  to  do  and  how  he  can  best 
prepare  himself  for  doing  it. 

The  following  outline  describes  the  work  in  general 
from  the  eighth  grade  through  the  twelfth: 

8th  Grade,     ist  Semester 
Topic — A  mbition 
Object:  To  arouse  in  the  pupil  a  desire  to  be  something  and 
somebody  in  the  world;  to  begin  to  look  forward  and  not  to  live 
entirely  in  the  present. 

Aids:  i.  Saturday  excursions. 
2.  Brief  talks  on  biography. 


596  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

8th  Grade.     2d  Semester 
Topic — The  Value  of  an  Education 
Object:  To  guide  the  pupil  to  take  the  steps  beyond  the  re- 
quirements of  the  compulsory  education  laws  that  will  be  of 
greatest  advantage  to  his  future  career;  to  lead  to  a  proper  choice 
of  schools,  or,  when  necessary,  to  the  best  kind  of  employment. 
Aids:  i.  Catalogues  of  local  high  schools,  academies,  technical 
or  commercial  schools. 

2.  Catalogues  of  trade-schools,  etc.,  of  high  school  grade. 

3.  Placement  bureau. 

4.  Talks  by  high  school  pupils  who  have  returned  to  school 
after  several  years  of  struggle  in  the  world. 

oth  Grade,     ist  Semester 
Topic — Elements  of  Success  in  Life 

SUBTOPIC — SELF- ANALYSIS 

Object:  Through  the  study  of  the  elements  of  character  that 
make  for  success  the  student  is  led  to  reveal  himself  to  the 
teacher  or  vocational  counsellor.  Personal  experiences,  environ- 
ment, associates,  tastes,  and  ideals  are  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
possible  future  bent  of  the  pupil. 

Aids:  i.  Themes  handed  in  are  strictly  confidential  and  often 
are  discussed  only  with  the  teacher.  Discussion  in  class  is 
always  of  a  general  nature  to  determine  the  fundamental  habits 
that  tend  toward  successful  living. 

9TH  Grade.     2D  Semester 
Topic — Elements  of  Success  in  Life 
Subtopic — Biography 
Object:  To  study  the  elements  of  character  that  made  for  suc- 
cess in  the  lives  of  truly  successful  men  and  women  and  to  com- 
pare their  characteristics  with  those  of  the  writer. 

Aids:  i.  Debates  and  the  discussions  comparing  the  merits  in 
certain  characters.     More  oral  than  written  work  in  this  grade. 

1  oth  Grade,     ist  Semester 
Topic — The  World's  Work :  A  Call  to  Service 
Object:  To  broaden  the  pupil's  vision  of  the  opportunities  for 
service  beyond  the  horizon  of  his  past  experience;  a  study  of 
vocations. 


SOCIALIZING   FUNCTION   OF  THE   LIBRARY       597 

Aids:  i.  The  Junior  Association  of  Commerce  (boys). 

2.  Work  of  women's  organizations  (girls). 

3.  Card  index  of  vocations  (compiled  by  students). 

4.  The  "Home  Study  Club"  (girls). 

ioth  Grade.  2D  Semester 
Topic — Choosing  a  Vocation 
Object:  To  assist  the  pupil  in  making  a  definite  choice  of  a 
vocation.  Here  is  applied  all  that  has  been  developed  before. 
Again  the  pupil  examines  himself  as  to  his  ability  and  possible 
future  and  makes  a  careful  application  of  these  to  the  field  of 
opportunity  before  him.  The  key-note  is  obedience  to  the  call  to 
service. 

Aids:  i.  Vocational  Counsellors  (in  co-operation). 

(a)  Teachers  of  English. 

(b)  Parents  or  guardians. 

(c)  Session-room  teachers  or  grade  principals. 

(d)  Principal  of  school,  chief  counsellor. 

iith  Grade,     ist  Semester 

Topic — Preparation  for  Life's  Work 

Object:  To  begin  immediately  to  connect  daily  tasks  and 

duties  with  future  achievement;  to  select  the  subjects  necessary 

to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  college  or  the  industry  that  it  is 

proposed  to  enter. 

Aids:  i.  Comprehensive  selection  of  catalogues  of  colleges, 
universities,  professional  and  technical  schools. 

2.  Vocational  card  index  to  catalogues. 

3.  Trade  journals. 

4.  Vocational  bulletins,  etc. 

iith  Grade.  2d  Semester 
Topic — Business  and  Professional  Ethics 
Object:  At  this  period  the  pupil  should  take  time  to  con- 
sider the  ethics  of  his  calling.  He  should  understand  the  moral 
responsibilities  that  will  rest  upon  him  in  his  life-work.  This 
topic  gives  a  personal  and  concrete  application  to  the  study  of 
moral  ethics  that  is  extremely  practical. 

Aids:  i.  Investigations  of  questionable  transactions. 


598  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

2.  Talks  by  men  and  women  able  to  give  of  their  experience  to 
the  subject. 

3.  Criticism  of  questionable  advertising. 

4.  Problems  of  the  home. 

12TH  Grade,     ist  Semester 
Topic — Social  Ethics :   The  Individual  in  His  Vocation  and  Society 

Object:  To  make  a  practical  study  of  social  ethics  from  a  con- 
crete point  of  view. 

Aids:  i.  Assisting  in  social  work  as  helpers  or  entertainers  at: 

(a)  Slum  districts. 

(b)  Social  settlements. 

(c)  Playgrounds. 

(d)  Social  centres  (schoolhouses). 

(e)  Charity  organization. 

(/)  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
(g)  The  Church. 

2.  Girls'  social  service  club. 

3.  Boys'  leadership  club. 

12TH  Grade.     2d  Semester 

Topic — Civil  Ethics.    The  Individual  in  His    Vocation  and  the 

State 

Object:  To  present  the  obligations  of  government  upon  the 
individual  in  a  personal  and  concrete  manner  and  to  arouse  an 
interest  in  civic  problems  that  will  result  in  a  more  righteous 
citizenship. 

Aids:  i.  Schemes  for  getting  into  actual  touch  with  civic 
conditions. 

2.  Tours  to  inspect  such  things  as: 

(a)  Pavements. 

(b)  Lighting  of  streets. 

(c)  Enforcement  of  juvenile  laws. 

(d)  Health  conditions. 

(e)  Fire  protection. 

(/)  Safeguarding  public  money, 
(g)  Pure-food  laws,  etc. 

3.  Boys'  "House  of  Representatives." 

(Debating  club) 


SOCIALIZING   FUNCTION   OF   THE   LIBRARY       599 

The  permanent  school  records  are  kept  on  a  card-filing 
system.  Scholarship  records  are  made  on  one  side  of  the 
card  and  on  the  reverse  side  is  the  "vocational  record." 

The  Civic  Phase. — That  phase  which  develops  the 
pupil's  interest  in  the  history,  the  growth,  and  the  gov- 
ernment of  his  locality  could  be  made  to  contribute  a 
valuable  service  to  the  social  life  of  the  community.  An 
excellently  planned  system  for  the  study  of  local  govern- 
ment has  been  adopted  in  Newark,  N.  J.  Twenty-seven 
leaflets  have  been  prepared  through  the  co-operation  of 
high  school  teachers,  librarians  in  the  public  library,  and 
others,  and  printed  by  the  board  of  education.  The 
leaflets  are  studied  by  the  pupils  in  the  city  schools 
under  school  direction.  Topics  of  some  of  the  leaflets 
are  as  follows:  "Public-School  System  of  Newark"; 
"Police  Department  of  Newark";  "Fire  Department 
of  Newark";  "Newark  Geography";  "Playgrounds"; 
"Transportation";  "City  Government";  "Noise  in 
City";  "Juvenile  Courts";  "Men  and  Women  of  New- 
ark" (biographical  sketches) ;  "Water-Supply";  "Street 
Paving";  "City  Cleaning";  "Charities."1  Such  a 
plan  could  be  adapted  to  almost  any  city  through  the 
use  of  city  manuals,  reports  of  city  commissioners,  news- 
paper clippings,  and  local  history.  Professor  James  H. 
Tufts,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  has  given  many  ex- 
cellent reasons  for  developing  work  of  this  character.  To 
quote  in  part:  "  To  get  before  boys  and  girls  at  the  out- 
set the  idea  that  all  our  industry  has,  as  its  end,  to  serve 
man,  would  be  a  great  gain.  .  .  .  To  get  young  people 
to  make  some  intelligent  appraisal  of  what  society  does 
for  them,  and  what  it  ought  to  do  that  it  fails  to  do,  to 

1  Certain  phases  of  this  plan  are  discussed  in  the  Library  Journal  for 
April,  1913,  p.  198. 


600  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

get  definitely  before  them  the  vision  of  the  public  inter- 
ests and  public  welfare,  as  having  claims  paramount  to 
private  gain — this  is  a  task  for  the  future:  existing 
materials  are  not  adequate,  new  materials  must  be 
provided." 

A  plan  for  aiding  those  interested  in  conducting  lec- 
tures on  social  subjects  of  vital  interest  is  being  system- 
atized by  Josiah  Strong  and  W.  D.  P.  Bliss,  editor  of  the 
Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform.     Each  lecture  is  type- 
written and  is  accompanied  by  a  box  of  fifty  slides,  care- 
fully packed.     These  lectures  have  been  recommended 
by  colleges,  churches,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries,  and  other 
social  workers.     A  high  school  librarian  with  limited 
time  for  preparation  could  well  use  one  or  more  of  this 
series  for  a  course  of  evening  lectures.     The  series  en- 
titled   "Social    Problems"    includes    the   following  six 
lectures,  rented  for  fifteen  dollars.     (Address,  American 
Institute  of  Social  Service,  80  Bible  House,  New  York.) 
"Hours  and  Wages,  or  How  the  Other  Half  Live." 
"Housing,  or  Where  the  Other  Half  Live." 
"Women  and  Children  in  Toil,  or  the  New  Slavery." 
"Amusement  Problems,  or  Social  Centres  vs.  Dance- 
Halls." 

"Battle  for  Health." 
"The  Coming  City." 

The  Cultural  Phase. — The  cultural  phase  might  be 
considered  as  representing  that  intangible  something 
which  reveals  those  finer  spiritual  elements  in  literature 
and  life  which  we  all  love,  but  which  we  cannot  define, 
nor  systematize,  nor  examine;  and  yet  real  culture 
touches  the  deepest  and  most  vital  springs  from  which  a 
nation's  life  is  watered  and  determines  the  uplifting 
power  of  that  nation's  place  in  history. 


SOCIALIZING   FUNCTION   OF   THE   LIBRARY       601 

But  cultural  growth  is  no  more  a  haphazard  develop- 
ment than  is  intellectual  growth.  In  the  rush  of  this 
utilitarian  age  are  we  not  in  danger  of  curtailing  some  of 
the  influences  which  feed  the  finer  feelings  and  touch  the 
deeper  needs?  As  the  growth  of  the  body  requires  pe- 
riods of  unconscious  sleep,  so  the  growth  of  our  finer 
nature  requires  periods  in  which  we  are  unconscious  of 
the  active,  commercial,  temporary  life.  These  periods 
for  the  development  of  the  better  self  come  through  the 
occasional  leisure  hours,  for  life  is  not  all  activity;  it 
requires  periods  of  rest  if  it  is  to  be  musical,  even  as 
music  requires  rest. 

How  to  use  leisure  hours,  therefore,  becomes  the  most 
vital  of  questions,  which  carries  with  it  a  duty  to  train 
young  people  to  be  wisely  self-directing  in  choosing  what 
is  worthy  of  their  time,  and  to  give  them  a  master-key 
which  can  unlock  only  the  best  in  the  great  world  of 
books  and  magazines  and  newspapers.  If  the  school 
library  should  take  for  one  of  its  aims  a  revelation, 
through  social  readings  and  popular  talks,  of  what  con- 
stitutes the  best  and  of  what  can  be  accomplished  by 
oneself  after  school  direction  is  over,  it  would  indeed 
render  a  rich  service. 

Lectures  Including  Parents. — A  well-chosen  series  of 
graded  lectures  in  general  cultural  subjects  would  do 
much  in  awakening  this  desire  for  the  best,  and  in  reveal- 
ing how  to  find  it  for  oneself.  If  such  lectures  were 
given  after  regular  school  hours,  or,  better  yet,  in  the 
evening,  so  that  parents  could  be  included,  a  social 
atmosphere  could  be  made  to  take  the  place  of  a  school 
atmosphere,  and  thus  a  broader  interest  could  be  de- 
veloped. Some  simple  system  of  giving  extra  credit  for 
taking  these  lecture  courses  might  be  devised  which 


602  THE   MODERN  HIGH  SCHOOL 

would  insure  attention  and  protect  the  pupil's  time. 
Many  parents  would  welcome  such  an  opportunity  for 
their  own  development  and  thoroughly  enjoy  it  in  con- 
nection with  the  school  life  of  their  children.  A  few 
printed  notes,  on  slips  about  the  size  of  an  average  pro- 
gramme, would  be  a  very  simple  way  of  systematizing 
the  information  for  which  the  pupils  could  be  held 
responsible. 

One  grade  might  work  out  the  topic  of  great  myths 
and  legends  as  illustrated  by  artists,  showing  the  pictures 
on  the  screen  with  the  aid  of  the  stereopticon  or  reflec- 
toscope.  Another  grade  might  treat  musicians  in  a 
similar  way,  using  a  Victrola  if  necessary;  another,  a 
course  in  epoch-making  events  in  science  and  history; 
continuing  thus,  some  large  topic  of  general  interest 
could  be  given  in  each  grade  of  the  school. 

In  vocational  schools  many  of  the  cultural  subjects 
are  necessarily  limited.  A  course  of  this  nature  might 
soften  the  practical  and  open  a  way  for  self-direction 
out  of  the  sordid  into  the  real.  It  would  offer  an  oppor- 
tunity to  recommend  and  introduce  many  good  books 
for  suggestive  but  not  required  reading.  Such  a  series 
of  lecture  courses  should  aid  materially  in  familiarizing 
high  school  pupils  with  common  allusions  in  literature 
and  history.  It  might  well  be  culminated  with  a  selected 
list  of  the  most  common  allusions  which  are  supposed  to 
be  recognized  by  intelligent  people,  with  the  requirement 
that  the  greater  number  of  them  be  mastered.1  In  voca- 
tional high  schools,  or  high  schools  where  elective  courses 

1 A  pamphlet  containing  a  graded  alphabetical  list  of  nearly  one 
thousand  such  allusions  has  been  prepared  by  the  author.  Particu- 
lars can  be  ascertained  from  the  author  for  a  self-addressed  stamped 
envelope. 


SOCIALIZING   FUNCTION   OF   THE   LIBRARY       603 

prevail,  it  has  become  possible  for  pupils  to  be  graduated 
who  have  never  heard  of  Virgil,  or  of  Beethoven,  or  of 
Darwin.  We  certainly  owe  a  duty  to  high  school  edu- 
cation to  introduce  somewhere  a  rounding  process  which 
shall  enable  pupils  to  have  something  of  an  intelligent 
response,  at  least,  to  the  names  of  great  men  in  different 
lines  of  the  world's  work,  and  to  the  epoch-making 
books  and  events  and  music  and  science  in  the  progress  of 
civilization.1 

Training  for  Large  Views. — Now,  no  one  department 
of  the  school  is  so  well  adapted  to  fulfil  this  rounding 
process  as  is  the  library.  In  the  multiplicity  of  school 
departments,  is  there  any  other  one  which  could  have 
for  an  aim  the  development  of  the  power  to  take  broad 
views  of  many  subjects  without  a  specialized  study  in 
any  one?  The  ability  to  make  a  wise  discrimination 
between  essential  and  non-essential  points  is  rare  in 
both  adults  and  pupils;  yet  such  a  mental  grasp  is  most 
desirable.  To  train  the  mind  for  broad  views  is  quite 
as  essential  as  it  is  to  train  it  for  specialized  views.  Even 
as  we  need  wide  views  of  life  to  prepare  us  for  complete 
living,  so  a  student  needs  a  wide  view  of  what  the  library 
has  to  offer  to  prepare  him  for -the  complete  use  of  his 
opportunities  in  the  intellectual  field.  The  person  who 
has  never  left  his  native  town  becomes  provincial  and 
shows  the  effect  of  limited  environment;  so  also  does  the 
mind  which  has  never  left  its  own  specialty  or  its  own 
intellectual  preferences.  The  value  of  travel  in  educa- 
tion is  recognized  to-day  to  such  an  extent  that  many 
colleges  and  even  public  schools  are  granting  a  Sabbati- 
cal year  to  teachers,  on  part  salary,  that  they  may  have 

1  For  a  further  discussion  of  this  plan,  see  Proceedings  of  the  National 
Education  Association  for  191 2,  Library  Department,  p.  1285. 


604  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  opportunity  of  a  wider  experience  and  of  developing 
broader  interests. 

If  pupils  can  be  systematically  introduced  to  a  kind 
of  outline  map  of  the  extent  and  range  of  subjects  under 
which  the  material  in  the  libraries  is  classified  and  be 
given  a  rudder  and  compass  to  guide  them,  with  a  word 
of  suggestion  regarding  tne  ports  that  are  really  worth 
sailing  into  and  the  snags  and  quicksands  of  the  medi- 
ocre, many  a  voyage  through  books  will  be  taken  which 
otherwise  would  never  be  attempted  or  realized  as  pos- 
sible. Many  times  all  that  is  necessary  to  insure  the  safe 
passage  through  the  ocean  of  books  is  a  little  personal 
guiding,  or  suggestion,  or  revelation.  Suggestion  often 
has  more  motor  power  than  direction.  Libraries  are 
the  avenues  through  which  this  power  of  suggestion  can 
best  find  a  medium,  and  high  school  education  should  be 
broad  enough  to  include  in  its  curriculum  a  course  in  the 
choice  and  use  of  books  which  shall  be  recognized  as  of 
equal  value  with  language  or  mathematics  or  any  other 
subjects,  and  therefore  be  allowed  a  dignified  consider- 
ation and  be  given  sufficient  number  of  hours  of  credit 
to  insure  its  success. 

Libraries  Should  Be  Recognized  as  Departments.— 
Each  one  of  the  phases  discussed  above  has  so  many 
avenues  for  growth  that  it  is  manifestly  impossible  for 
any  one  person  to  develop  them  all.  If  progressive 
schools  large  enough  to  warrant  the  step  would  or- 
ganize the  library  interests  into  a  department,  place  at 
the  head  of  this  department  one  who  is  college-bred,  with 
library  training  in  addition,  and  who  is  also  tempera- 
mentally fitted  to  be  a  social,  an  intellectual,  and  a  cul- 
tural leader,  a  great  step  forward  would  be  taken.  An 
organized  department  could,  with  what  assistance  the 


SOCIALIZING   FUNCTION   OF   THE  LIBRARY       605 

growth  of  the  work  demanded,  render  most  valuable  ser- 
vices to  the  social  interests  of  the  school  in  working  out 
lecture  courses,  suggesting  and  arranging  intergrade  de- 
bates, planning  dramatic  entertainments  or  programmes 
for  special-day  celebrations,  and  otherwise  selecting  lit- 
erature for  the  social  as  well  as  the  academic  life  of  the 
school.  Such  an  organized  department  could  also  do 
much  for  the  vocational  interests  of  the  school  in  ar- 
ranging talks  by  business  men  for  the  pupils  and  their 
parents  on  the  business  interests  and  possibilities  of  the 
locality,  or  lectures  on  local  government  by  city  officials 
or  other  plans. 

Present  versus  Future  Status  of  the  Library. — But 
under  the  present  condition  of  the  school  library  one 
person,  who  is  usually  rated,  in  status  and  salary,  as 
between  a  clerk  and  a  teacher,  must  develop  all  that  is 
developed  from  the  library  centre.  If  forward  move- 
ments are  to  be  encouraged,  the  librarian  must  be  recog- 
nized in  the  school  system  as  a  department  head;  she 
should  be  required  to  comply  with  the  educational  quali- 
fications and  special  training  which  such  a  position  should 
demand;  and  she  should  be  granted  the  same  salary, 
status,  and  necessary  assistants  as  are  tendered  heads  of 
other  departments  of  the  school. 

That  condition  which  accepts  the  library  as  an  adjunct 
to  the  principal's  office,  or  merely  as  a  centre  for  encyclo- 
pedic information,  or  for  the  exchanging  and  recording 
of  books,  or  as  a  branch  only  of  the  public  library,  with 
no  developing  power  of  its  own,  must  soon  pass  away. 

In  most  high  schools  all  other  departments  are  well 
organized,  yet  the  library  has  larger  opportunities  for 
touching  the  cultural  side  of  the  school  life  and  of  awak- 
ening a  response  to  a  wider  number  of  interests  than 


606  THE  MODERN  HIGH  SCHOOL 

has. any  other  single  department.  One  who  has  never 
studied  the  possibilties  of  a  high  school  library  cannot 
realize  the  need  of  placing  in  charge  of  it  the  best-trained, 
the  most  adaptable,  the  most  devoted,  the  most  original 
of  workers  if  forward  movements  are  to  be  developed. 
The  very  fact  that  its  duties  cannot  be  definitely  out- 
lined makes  it  doubly  necessary  to  place  in  charge  of 
them  one  who  is  self-directing  and  possesses  executive 
ability  in  addition  to  educational  qualifications. 

The  dream  of  high  school  libraries  equipped  with  spe- 
cial rooms  for  different  phases  of  the  work,  with  a  gen- 
eral room  even  including  rocking-chairs  and  a  grate,  is 
not  unduly  Utopian.  It  has  already  been  realized  in 
some  of  our  Western  high  schools,  as,  for  example,  Spo- 
kane and  Pasadena.  It  is  as  attainable,  generally,  as 
were  laboratories,  or  athletic  fields,  or  manual-training 
equipment.  The  recognition  of  the  college  library  as  a 
department,  essential  in  the  university  life,  and  a  unit 
which  must  be  under  scholarly  direction,  with  adequate 
assistance,  is  universally  conceded.  A  corresponding 
dignity  and  opportunity  should  be  conceded  to  the  high 
school  library  if  it  is  to  fulfil  its  possibilities  in  secondary 
education.  Many  high  schools  which  devote  a  very  large 
percentage  of  space  to  gymnasiums,  dining  and  cooking 
rooms,  sewing  rooms,  swimming  pools,  commercial  rooms, 
and  similar  equipments,  and  which  place  in  charge  of 
these  interests  men  and  women  who  are  trained  for  their 
work  and  compensated  in  salary  and  opportunity  as  de- 
partment heads,  devote  to  the  library  a  small,  crowded 
room,  inadequate  funds,  no  assistants,  often  estimating 
the  care  of  free  text-books  as  legitimate  library  duties, 
and  compensate  the  librarian  with  a  salary  less  than  that 
of  a  regular  teacher.     Once  recognize  this  situation,  and 


SOCIALIZING   FUNCTION   OF   THE   LIBRARY       607 

realize  the  power  that  a  well-directed  and  adequately 
supported  library  can  be  in  a  school,  and  the  future  will 
vote  the  necessary  support. 

Library  Section 

national  council  of  teachers  of  english 

Statement  adopted  at  Chicago,  November  28,  1913 

In  view  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  library  and  its  function  in 
modern  education,  the  Library  Section  of  the  National  Council 
of  Teachers  of  English,  in  session  at  Chicago,  November  28, 
1913,  presents  for  the  consideration  and  approval  of  educational 
and  civic  and  State  authorities  the  following: 

First. — Good  service  from  libraries  is  indispensable  to  the  best 
educational  work. 

Second. — The  wise  direction  of  a  library  requires  scholarship, 
executive  ability,  tact,  and  other  high-grade  qualifications,  to- 
gether with  special  training  for  the  effective  direction  of  cul- 
tural reading,  choice  of  books,  and  teaching  of  reference  prin- 
ciples. 

Third. — Because  much  latent  power  is  being  recognized  in 
the  library  and  is  awaiting  development,  it  is  believed  that  so 
valuable  a  factor  in  education  should  be  accorded  a  dignity  wor- 
thy of  the  requisite  qualifications,  and  that,  in  schools  and  edu- 
cational systems,  the  director  of  the  library  should  be  recognized 
as  a  department  head  who  shall  be  able  to  undertake  progres- 
sive work,  be  granted  necessary  assistants,  and  be  compensated 
in  status  and  salary  equally  with  the  supervisors  of  other  de- 
partments. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 
VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE  AND  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

Meyer  Bloomfield 

DIRECTOR   OF   THE   VOCATION   BUREAU    OF    BOSTON 

New  Interest  in  Life  Careers  of  School  Children. — 
Unusual  interest  in  the  life  careers  of  school  children  has 
become  active  throughout  the  country.  There  is  a 
growing  sympathy  with  the  perplexities  which  beset 
youth  adrift  in  early  employment  and  with  the  work 
experiences  of  that  multitude  of  boys  and  girls  who,  in- 
stead of  building  futures  as  efficient  bread-winners,  are 
taking  gambler's  chances  with  such  resources  and  oppor- 
tunities as  may  be  theirs. 

There  is  a  new  scrutiny  of  the  adequacy  of  both  the 
tools  of  education  and  of  employment.  In  no  depart- 
ment of  school  service  are  the  interest  and  scrutiny 
keener  at  the  present  time  than  in  the  high  school.  In 
more  than  a  score  of  cities  there  are  committees  of  high 
school  principals  and  teachers  organized  to  study  the 
vocational-guidance  problems  of  the  pupils  and  the  rela- 
tion of  the  offered  courses  to  these  problems.  Just  as 
the  alert  elementary  schools  are  investigating  the  causes 
of  the  dropping  out  of  school  of  the  boys  and  girls  who 
might  well  have  prolonged  the  schooling  they  so  much 
needed,  so  many  a  high  school  has  awakened  to  the  fact 
that  there  is  a  preventable  waste  in  the  high  school  en- 

608 


VOCATIONAL    GUIDANCE  609 

rolment  too.  Public-spirited  men  and  women,  through 
various  newly  created  societies,  are  co-operating  with 
the  school  system  in  many  a  city  to  guard  the  transition 
from  school  to  work  and  to  follow  up  the  social  effect 
of  the  employments  open  to  elementary  and  high  school 
pupils.  There  is  a  conviction,  growing  increasingly 
clear  and  strong,  that  both  school  and  vocation  must  be 
so  adjusted  as  to  enable  young  people  to  find  both  life 
and  a  living  in  their  daily  activities. 

Vocational  Guidance. — This,  then,  is  the  basic  idea  of 
vocational  guidance: — School  life  should  awaken  and 
give  content  to  the  life-career  motive,  and  occupational 
life  should  definitely  augment  the  gains  made  by  the 
workers  during  their  school  life. 

A  few  simple  principles  which  appeal  to  the  conscience 
and  the  common  sense  of  the  thinking  person  underlie 
vocational  guidance.  Nobody  doubts  that  the  choosing 
of  one's  life-work  is  a  serious  matter  and  that  such 
choosing  cannot  safely  be  left  to  blind  chance.  No  ob- 
server of  present  conditions  believes  that  young  people 
readily  "find  themselves,"  in  our  complex  world  of  sub- 
divided labor,  specialized  pursuits,  and  increasing  effi- 
ciency demands — coming,  as  most  boys  and  girls  do,  out 
of  their  sheltered  school  life,  unprepared  for  the  life  that 
is  ahead  of  them.  School  impressions  of  the  working 
world  and  contact  with  it  are  very  different  things.  A 
general  interest  in  the  environment  and  a  thorough  in- 
vestigation of  its  various  aspects  yield  very  different  re- 
sults. One  can  no  longer  judge  the  merits  or  the  draw- 
backs of  an  occupation  through  hearsay,  tradition,  or 
casual  inspection.  Only  expert  inquiry,  carried  on  with 
the  standard  tools  of  modern  research,  can  bring  to  light 
such  vital  facts  in  an  occupation  as  its  bearing  on  health, 


610  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

personal  development,  and  economic  well-being.  Genu- 
ine vocational  guidance,  therefore,  emphasizes  not  only  a 
concrete,  intimate,  and  enduring  interest  in  the  indi- 
vidual pupil,  but,  above  all  else,  it  insists  upon  expert 
study  (as  opposed  to  dilettante  guessing)  of  the  voca- 
tional progress  of  children  in  school  and  at  work. 

Two  Important  Facts. — Two  facts  strike  one  forcefully 
as  one  considers  the  need  of  vocational  guidance  in  our 
schools.  One  is  that  never  before  in  the  world's  history 
have  fourteen  or  fifteen  year  old  children  had  it  so  much 
in  their  own  hands  to  make  some  of  the  most  momentous 
decisions  of  life:  such  decisions  as  the  sort  of  school  or 
course  they  will  enter,  how  long  they  will  stay,  the  work 
they  will  leave  school  for,  and  how  long  they  will  stay  in 
this  work.  The  other  fact  is  that  never  as  much  as 
now  have  we  needed  a  constructive  policy  on  the  part 
of  the  schools  to  make  up  to  these  children  what  an  in- 
dustrial age  has  taken  from  them  in  the  way  of  home 
influence,  normal  surroundings,  and  the  vocationally  di- 
rective value  of  their  daily  experiences. 

The  Opportunity  of  the  High  School. — The  high  school 
is  singularly  well  placed  to  render  a  large  measure  of 
vocational-guidance  service.  To  it  come  the  children  at 
their  most  critical  age,  vocationally.  It  is  the  period 
when,  if  ever  at  all,  foundations  of  vocational  efficiency 
are  laid.  Adolescence  is  the  period  of  decisive  battles, 
the  time  when  the  history  of  many  an  individual  is  almost 
finally  written.  Into  the  schoolhouse  every  boy  and 
girl  brings  his  or  her  small  world — a  world  of  plenty  or 
of  privation,  temptation  or  inspiration,  care  or  irrespon- 
sibility. Rare  is  that  school  which  can  pierce  this  en- 
veloping shell  and  speak  to  the  real  child.  Every  class- 
room is  a  tell-tale  of  its  environment.     Our  many  child 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  (ill 

problems  reflect  the  aloofness  of  the  average  school  from 
economic  influences  which  bear  so  many  children  down. 
Neither  brightness  nor  hard  study  determines  alone  the 
quality  of  a  pupil's  school  work.  More  important  than 
these  factors  is  the  sense  of  economic  worthwhileness, 
which  the  school  must  bring  home  to  the  many  children 
tossed  between  the  conflicting  interests  of  the  school  and 
the  challenging  world  outside.  Ruskin  has  said:  "  No 
teacher  can  truly  promote  the  cause  of  education  until 
he  knows  the  conditions  of  the  life  for  which  that  educa- 
tion is  to  prepare  his  pupil."  For  that  vast  majority  of 
our  high  school  children  who  do  not  complete  the  high 
school  course,  instruction  unmindful  of  their  probable 
vocational  destinies  and  possibilities  is  positively  an  in- 
jury to  them  and  to  society.  Invidious  distinction  is 
sometimes  made  between  training  for  self-support  and 
non-vocational  education.  This  discrimination,  so  pro- 
foundly undemocratic,  is  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  even- 
tual lifting  of  the  common  employments  into  the  dignity 
of  recognized  community  service.  We  have  not  more 
than  begun,  as  yet,  to  fathom  the  now  neglected  possi- 
bilities of  life-career  training,  and  of  daily  work,  too,  as 
spiritualizing  influences;  while  in  our  book-enslaved 
routine  of  teaching  we  have  scarcely  sensed  the  injustice 
to  that  large  class  of  hand-gifted  children,  the  boys  and 
girls  born  to  think  through  action  and  to  serve  their 
fellows  through  the  exercise  of  bodily  energies. 

The  High  School's  Responsibility  to  Individual  Boys 
and  Girls. — Obviously,  in  the  high  school,  of  all  places, 
there  is  need  of  the  closest  understanding  of  the  personal 
capacities  and  the  personal  problems  of  the  children. 
"The  special  aim  of  secondary  education,"  Professor 
Hanus  has  said,  "and  the  teacher's  greatest  responsi- 


612  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

bility — a  responsibility  not  often  recognized  or  acknowl- 
edged hitherto — therefore,  consists  in  the  discovery  and 
the  special  development  of  each  pupil's  dominant  inter- 
ests, in  so  far  as  these  interests  represent  possibilities  of 
development  in  harmony  with  the  general  aim  of  educa- 
tion, and  in  the  constant  use  of  the  course  of  study  as  a 
means  of  intelligent  experimentation,  until  the  pupil's 
self-revelation  is  complete.  During  this  stage,  therefore, 
as  the  pupil  advances,  the  relative  educational  values 
of  different  subjects  for  each  pupil  correspond  more  and 
more  with  the  relative  degrees  of  interest  they  develop." 
Professor  Hanus  believes  that  a  proper  application  of 
these  principles  will  lead  to  that  desirable  although  at 
present  apparently  unattainable  result  that  each  youth 
will  learn  to  know  his  powers  and  defects  and  will  be 
aided  to  select  deliberately  that  calling  for  which  he  is 
best  fitted  by  nature. 

Vocational  Guidance  and  Educational  Guidance.— 
The  vocational-guidance  movement  has,  among  other 
things,  made  clear  one  of  the  most  important  and  gener- 
ally neglected  services  which  a  school  can  render,  and 
that  is  educational  guidance.  In  Boston,  for  example, 
where  vocational-guidance  interest  is  keen  among  the 
teachers,  and  the  work  of  vocational  assistance  to  chil- 
dren in  the  schools  is  active,  it  was  found  that  vocational 
information  and  guidance  could  not  well  go  on  without 
steps  being  first  taken  to  organize  a  scheme  of  giving 
information  about  existing  vocational-training  oppor- 
tunities in  the  city.  A  curious  situation  was  revealed — 
not  at  all  peculiar  to  Boston — showing  that  there  was  a 
gap,  so  far  as  any  genuine  and  informed  relationship  was 
concerned,  between  the  elementary  school  and  the  high 
school,  almost  as  marked  as  that  between  the  school  and 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  613 

the  job.  Children  drifted  into  the  high  school  very  much 
as  they  drifted  into  a  job.  It  became  necessary,  there- 
fore, in  the  Boston  work,  to  inform  the  vocational 
counselors  specifically  as  to  what  the  high  schools  of  the 
city  could  offer  to  children  of  various  aptitudes  and  life- 
career  plans.  Educational  guidance,  therefore,  the  Bos- 
ton vocational  counselors  maintain,  is  the  foundation  of 
vocational  guidance. 

If  children  cannot  be  intelligently  directed  to  the 
course  of  study  most  appropriate  from  the  view-point  of 
their  needs  and  capacities,  it  is  idle  to  expect  effective 
service  in  the  infinitely  more  difficult  field  of  vocational 
information  and  assistance.  Such  educational  direction, 
however,  needs  the  same  careful  preliminary  investiga- 
tion and  scrutiny  of  the  high  school  plant  and  scheme  as 
does  the  vocation.  An  excellent  illustration  of  such  pro- 
cedure is  to  be  found  in  the  inquiry  carried  on  by  Miss 
Bessie  D.  Davis,  of  the  Somerville,  Mass.,  high  school, 
and  a  member  of  the  Vocation  Bureau  Guidance  Course. 
The  following  questionnaire  was  employed  by  Miss  Davis 
to  ascertain  from  the  two  thousand  or  more  pupils  of  this 
school  just  why  they  happened  to  be  in  the  courses  in 
which  they  had  enrolled  themselves.  This  school  has 
five  departments,  as  follows:  The  general,  the  college- 
preparatory,  the  manual  arts,  the  commercial,  and  the 
two-year  commercial. 

QUESTIONNAIRE   FOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   PUPILS 

high  school,  somerville,  mass. 

Name         Age         Yrs.  Mos.  Class         Room 

i.  Do  you  expect  to  complete  a  course  of  four  years  in  the  high 
school? 

2.  If  not,  how  many  years  do  you  expect  to  stay? 


614  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

3.  If  you  do  not  expect  to  remain  four  years,  what  is  the  reason: 

(a)  Financial  conditions? 

(b)  Lack  of  success  in  school  work? 

(c)  Desire  to  go  to  work? 
id)  Loss  of  interest? 

4.  Please  underline  the  course  which  you  are  now  taking: 

(a)  General;  (c)  Manual  Arts; 

(b)  College  Preparatory;        (d)  Commercial; 
(e)  Two-year  Commercial. 

5.  What  led  you  to  choose  this  course: 

(a)  Advice  of  parents,  teachers,  friends? 

(b)  Success  of  others? 

(c)  Belief  in  your  personal  qualifications  and  ability  for  the 

work  of  this  course? 

6.  Do  you  know  what  studies  are  included  in  this  course: 
(a)  In  the  first  year?  (b)  In  the  second  year? 
(c)  In  the  third  year?            (d)  In  the  fourth  year? 

7.  What  qualifications  do  you  think,  you  have  for  the  work  of 

this  course? 

8.  What  line  of  work  do  you  intend  to  follow  after  you  leave 

high  school? 

9.  What  do  you  understand  to  be  the  requirements  of  this  work? 

10.  How  have  you  ascertained  these  requirements? 

11.  Is  this  the  work  which  you  really  desire  to  do? 

12.  What  have  your  parents  advised? 

13.  To  what  extent,  if  any,  have  possible  financial  benefits  in- 

fluenced your  choice? 

14.  If  this  is  not  the  work  which  you  really  desire  to  do,  why  are 

you  not  preparing  to  follow  your  personal  choice? 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  615 

15.  What  service  to  the  community  are  you  planning  to  render 
through  your  vocation? 

Extra: 

A.  For  College  Preparatory  Pupils: 

1.  For  what  college  are  you  preparing? 

2.  Why  have  you  chosen  this  college? 

3.  What  are  its  requirements? 

B.  For  Scientific,  Normal  School,  Normal  Art  School,  etc., 

Preparatory  Pupils: 

1.  For  what  school  are  you  preparing? 

2.  Why  have  you  chosen  this  school? 

3.  What  are  its  requirements? 

Note. — Please  answer  questions  in  full  where  space  is  given; 
otherwise,  as  briefly  as  possible.  The  purpose  of  this  inquiry 
is  to  help  in  the  conduct  of  the  school  rather  than  to  be  inquisi- 
tive concerning  the  personal  affairs  of  the  pupils.  Please  answer 
frankly.     Replies  will  be  considered  confidential. 

January,  19 13. 

A  printed  copy  of  this  questionnaire  was,  without 
warning,  given  each  pupil  of  the  three  upper  classes  one 
morning  in  February,  191 2.  One  period,  about  forty-five 
minutes,  was  allowed  for  the  answering  of  the  questions. 
No  attempt  was  made  to  have  absent  pupils  answer 
them  later.  The  same  plan  was  followed  a  week  later 
in  an  afternoon  session  with  first-year  pupils. 

The  present  report  is  based  on  only  1,226  of  these 
papers.  These  1,226  include,  however,  every  year  and 
every  course,  and  are,  therefore,  enough  from  which  to 
draw  conclusions.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  reduce 
all  the  answers  to  tables  and  schedules.  Summaries  are 
here  given,  or  actual  quotations  which  give  real  insight 
into  the  pupil's  mind  and  heart. 

For  the  first  two  questions,  however,  a  table  seems 
most  illuminating: 


616 


THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


QUESTION  I 


QUESTION  II 


YEAR 

NO.  OF 

PUPILS 

AVER- 
AGE 
AGE 

YES 

NO. 
YRS. 

? 

1 

1 

1-2 

2 

2-3 

3 

s 

? 

3 

1 
1 
4 

1913 

1914 

I9J5 

I9l6 

19*7 

Totals... 

188 

240 

394 
230 

174 

18.27 
17.29 

I5-36 

14.72 

184 

233 
361 
187 
137 

O 

I 
16 
32 
29 

2 

5 
5 

7 

0 

2 

3 

1 

5 
1 

1 
1 

1 

2 

3 
6 

1 
3 
3 

7 

11 

23 
20 

54 

3 

1 

4 

6 

6 

9 

1,226 

1,102 

78 

25 

It  is  evident  that  there  is  less  certainty  in  the  minds  of 
first  and  second  year  pupils  regarding  the  length  of  stay 
in  the  school.  The  large  number  of  two-year  statements 
is  doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that  most  of  these  pupils 
belong  to  the  two-year  commercial  class.  The  reasons 
given  for  less  than  four  years'  stay  fall  under  the  respec- 
tive headings,  as  follows: 


YEAR 

A 

B 

c 

D 

a  0 

1913. .. . 

1914 

1915 

I916. . . . 

1917. -. • 

Totals .  . 

I 
I 

9 
10 

21 

I 
2 

3 

0 

6 

4 

8 

9 

23 

2 

I 

I 
2 

6 

4 
4 

6 

5 

J9 

To  prepare  at  Exeter  Academy. 
Three  other  schools — one  moved 

away. 
Five  other  schools  or  business 

college,  one  2-year  course. 
Four  other  schools,  one  account 

of  knowledge. 

Financial  conditions  and  desire  to  go  to  work  are  evi- 
dently the  chief  reasons. 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  617 

Of  the  1,209  pupils  154  are  in  the  general  course;  489 
in  the  college  preparatory,  which  includes  normal  and 
scientific  pupils  also;  29  in  the  normal-arts  course,  which 
is  new  and  not  well  understood;  480  in  the  commercial 
course;  56  in  the  two-year  commercial;  and  1  special  stu- 
dent. In  the  senior  and  junior  classes  more  are  in  the 
college  divisions;  in  the  sophomore  and  freshman  classes 
the  commercial  course  predominates. 

It  is  in  the  reasons  for  choice  of  these  courses  that 
special  interest  lies,  and  in  the  change  of  course.  Of  the 
latter  n  were  mentioned.  Several  of  these  are  worth 
noticing: 

1.  Started  in  B.  Changed  to  A — due  to  poor  marks 
and  death  of  father. 

2.  Changed  to  A  because  he  had  no  definite  plan  at 
first. 

3.  Changed  from  A  to  B  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
year,  etc. 

That  they  and  others  needed  guidance  is  shown  by 
such  reasons  for  choice  as  these: 

1.  "  Chosen  at  random." 

2.  (D)  "  Mostly  because  there  was  nothing  I  really 
wanted,  and  I  had  to  take  something." 

3.  (A)  "  Did  not  intend  to  go  to  college  or  take  busi- 
ness course." 

4.  (D)  "  Didn't  know  what  else  to  take." 

In  view  of  these  answers  one  is  not  surprised  to  find 
that  of  1,118  answers  to  question  6  only  426  indicate 
knowledge  of  the  work  of  the  four  years;  145  of  three 
years;  272  of  two  years;  and  275  of  the  first  year.  The 
first  and  the  second  year  pupils  know  little  about  the 
years  ahead;  no  wonder  they  make  serious  errors  in 
choice. 


618  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Their  ideas  for  their  qualifications  for  the  course  taken 
range  from  "  None  "  or  "  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  "  to 
statements  of  personal  factors,  special  abilities  or  inter- 
ests, etc.     Among  the  most  interesting  are  these: 

"  Ability  to  do  mathematics  better  than  many  girls." 

"  A  brain  and  ability  to  study  until  I  get  what  I  want." 

"  Willingness  to  work  hard." 

"  Ambition,  honesty,  common  sense,  good  health,  etc." 

The  occupations  to  be  followed  later  cover  much 
ground.  They  are  divided  into  four  groups  for  com- 
parison: 

i.  Commercial,  including  bookkeeping,  stenography, 
etc. 

2.  Future  study,  including  college,  normal  school,  etc.; 
professional  and  semi-professional  work,  including  law, 
medicine,  music,  art,  etc.,  and  the  trades.  Of  the  1,226 
only  1 1  indicated  a  desire  to  engage  in  the  work  of  trades. 
Many  already  know  what  profession  they  purpose  to 
engage  in;  and  many  plan  to  go  into  commercial  life — ■ 
172  as  stenographers,  36  as  bookkeepers,  and  56  in 
office  work. 

Knowledge  of  the  requirements  of  these  occupations 
is  limited.  Personal  factors  are  named  in  much  the 
same  way  as  in  answer  to  question  7.  Business  factors, 
ability  to  work,  appreciate  the  value  of  time;  "willing- 
ness to  do  what  is  required,  and  more,  if  necessary,"  are 
mentioned.  Special  demands  are  spoken  of  in  very  few 
instances;  viz.,  apprenticeship  or  special  training.  Is  it 
any  wonder  that,  looking  for  information  concerning 
employments,  one  says  later,  "There  is  nothing  to  take 
to  be  a  nurse,"  and  another,  that  he  made  a  mistake  in 
taking  the  wrong  course  and  cannot,  therefore,  prepare 
for  the  vocation  he  desires? 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE 


G19 


Information  has  been  gained  from  many  sources — 
people,  reading,  inquiry,  experience,  observation,  and 
thought.  One  suggested  examining  and  checking  off 
subjects  already  taken.  And  one,  bewildered,  asked  for 
advice.     His  case  was  followed  up  with  care. 

Answers  to  question  14  show  that  financial  conditions 
and  family  objections  are  the  chief  obstacles.  But  one 
finds  as  reasons: 

"I  made  a  mistake  in  taking  the  wrong  course." 
"I  couldn't  change  my  course." 
"I  do  not  want  to  carry  out  the  course." 
"No  personal  ability  for  any  kind  of  work." 
These  are  the  people  likely  to  be  discouraged  and  leave 
school. 

That  parents  know  too  little  about  the  school  and 
play  too  small  a  part  in  the  child's  choice  of  work  there 
is  indicated  by  the  next  group  of  answers: 


AGREE 

DISAGREE 

NOTHING 

OWN 
CHOICE 

GENERAL 
ADVICE 

i9!3 

19H 

i9!S 

1916 

127 

145 
287 
I3O 
III 

IO 

25 
27 
l8 
15 

7 

13 

8 

7 
4 

16 

24 

17 

5 

5 

6 

I 

3 
12 

1917 

Totals 

800 

95 

39 

67 

22 

Unfortunately,  too  many  of  the  first  group  may  be  like 
the  case  of  one  pupil  who  said  parental  advice  was: 
"Think  and  decide;  then  let  me  know  to  approve  or  dis- 
approve." One  has  reason  to  believe  that  such  is  often 
the  case  because  so  many  say  that  they  made  their  own 
choice.     As  one  puts  it:  "They  have  given  a  good  deal  of 


620  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

advice,  but  let  me  be  guided  by  my  own  wishes."  An- 
other says:  "Nothing.  I  chose  this  work  of  my  own  ac- 
cord. I  am  putting  myself  through  school."  Still  an- 
other: "No  advice  to  give."  And  a  boy  whose  longing 
for  ornithology  has  not  yet  been  met  by  information  or 
help  wrote  concerning  parents'  advice:  "Nothing.  Ab- 
solutely nothing."  His  mother  died  only  a  few  years 
ago. 

Financial  benefits  have  much  to  do  with  choices. 
Two  hundred  and  eighty- three  say  frankly  that  it  did. 
One  says  that  he  has  a  brother  going  to  college.  An- 
other: "Must  support  parents."  "Family  need  sup- 
port; father  is  not  living."  "College  graduates  obtain 
better-paying  positions."  "Want  to  earn  money  for 
a  musical  career."  "Most  money  in  it  for  me."  "I 
shall  have  to  work  my  way  if  I  go  to  college.  If  I  really 
knew  what  I  should  like  to  become  I  should  go  to  college ; 
but  I  think  that  it  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  do  some- 
thing that  I  do  not  know  anything  about." 

Service  to  the  community  was  to  many  a  new  idea. 
Twenty  admitted  that  they  had  not  thought  about  it 
and  58  did  not  know  what  they  could  do.  Some  cared 
little  for  others.  One  said:  "None.  I  am  going  to  look 
after  myself  first."  "None.  I  expect  to  be  a  peaceful 
citizen,"  answered  another. 

Many,  however,  showed  much  thought  and  under- 
standing of  what  service  might  mean.  The  answers  are 
grouped  under  the  headings — through  work,  social  help, 
as  a  citizen,  through  character,  all  possible.  Some  were, 
like  the  last,  mentioned  in  vagueness.  Others  were  very 
specific.     Here  are  several  typical  replies: 

"Hope  to  be  instrumental  in  alleviating  suffering 
caused  by  cancer." 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  621 

"Aid  city  government." 

"Be  a  credit  to  S ." 

"The  better  I  am  educated  the  more  I  can  do  for  the 
community." 

"To  better  conditions  where  I  live." 

"To  lay  out  better  cities." 

"Design  public  buildings  so  that  they  will  last." 

"Defend  innocent  men  and  women  who  are  accused 
of  crime." 

"Help  unfortunate  people." 

And  with  unintentional  humor  and  perhaps  sad  com- 
ment on  what  he  has  heard  and  read:  "Justify  wrong." 

To  awaken  the  minds  of  all  pupils  to  the  idea  of 
noblesse  oblige  is  surely  the  duty  of  any  school. 

Of  these  pupils  many  are  going  to  colleges  and  other 
higher  institutions.  Harvard,  Tufts,  and  Massachu- 
setts Institute  of  Technology  attract  the  larger  number 
of  boys;  Radcliffe,  Wellesley,  Simmons,  Salem  Normal 
School,  and  Boston  Normal  Art  School  of  the  girls. 

Answers  with  regard  to  choosing  college,  etc.,  and  re- 
quirements were  fewer  in  number.  Only  357  answered 
the  former  and  282  the  latter.  Location,  standing  of 
scholarship  and  instructions  offered,  time  required,  repu- 
tation, experience,  and  recommendations  of  others,  type 
of  graduates,  cost  of  tuition,  etc.,  all  are  mentioned  in 
some  way  or  other.  It  is,  however,  plain  that  informa- 
tion is  general  and  limited.  Knowledge  of  requirement 
seems  to  be  still  less.  Perhaps  many,  like  one,  "leave  it 
to  the  principal,"  or  "keep  a  book  of  requirements  at 
home,"  etc.  Apparently,  they  little  realize  that  require- 
ments differ  as  do  colleges. 

It  is  rather  encouraging  to  find  some  opposition  on  the 
part  of  the  parents  which  must  arouse  the  pupil.     Some 


622  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

parents  urge  the  choice  of  definite  instead  of  drifting 
attitude;  some  have  such  radically  different  choices  as 
music,  not  stenography,  or  private  school  instead  of  office 
work. 

Even  parents  disagree,  and  we  find  father  wanting  his 
boy  to  be  a  surveyor  and  mother  choosing  for  him  a 
business  course. 

"  Not,  however,"  Miss  Davis  asserts,  "until  grammar- 
school  masters  and  teachers  work  more  closely  with  high 
school  masters  and  teachers,  and  both  groups  work  with 
pupils  and  parents,  can  the  needs  indicated  in  these 
papers  be  met.  Every  master  of  a  grammar-school 
should  visit  the  high  school  of  his  city,  study  its  work, 
and  be  ready  with  co-operation  of  the  high  school  teach- 
ers to  give  such  information  as  will  help  pupils  choose 
carefully  courses  which  will  look  far  ahead.  Then,  in  the 
high  school  there  should  be  flexibility  enough  to  permit 
of  readjustments.  There  is  no  reason  why  those  in  the 
wrong  course  by  mistake  must  stay  there.  Finally,  the 
high  school  must  give  to  the  pupils,  whether  they  ask  it 
or  not,  definite,  clear,  simple  information  regarding  the 
work  they  may  do  in  the  world.  Not  until  all  this  is 
adequately  done  will  the  gap  between  the  high  school 
and  the  grammar-school,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  high 
school  and  after-life,  on  the  other,  be  bridged." 

One  of  the  most  profitable  sessions  of  the  Boston  School 
Counselors  (a  body  of  teachers  representing  every  ele- 
mentary and  high  school  in  Boston  and  meeting  fort- 
nightly) was  that  devoted  to  a  brief  description  on  the 
part  of  their  head  masters  of  what  the  six  central  high 
schools  of  the  city  offered  and  what  kind  of  boys  and 
girls  could  make  best  use  of  the  opportunities.  The  fol- 
lowing was  the  programme: 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  623 


Presentation  of  the  Work  Done  and  the  Kind  of  Pupil 
Desired  in  the  Central  High  Schools. 

Mr.  Henry  I'ennypacker,  head  master,  The  Public  Latin  School. 

Mr.  John  F.  Casey,  head  master,  The  English  High  School. 

Mr.  Myron  W.  Richardson,  head  master,  The  Girls'  High  School. 

Mr.  James  E.  Downey,  head  master,  The  High  School  of  Com- 
merce. 

Mr.  Herbert  S.  Weaver,  head  master,  The  High  School  of  Prac- 
tical Arts. 

Mr.  Charles  W.  Parmcnter,  head  master,  The  Mechanic  Arts 
High  School. 

In  the  effort  of  the  elementary  school  counselor  to 
understand  the  requirements  of  the  high  school  and  in 
the  co-operation  between  these  two  divisions  children 
will  be  positively  stimulated  to  stay  in  the  schools  until 
they  are  better  prepared  to  enter  occupational  life. 

The  Child  in  Industry. — -The  child-welfare  organiza- 
tions of  the  country  have  made  clear  the  social  waste- 
fulness of  tolerating  the  employment  of  children  from 
fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age  without  at  least  a  com- 
pensating provision  for  training.  Many  an  employer, 
too,  admits  the  unprofitableness  of  employing  children 
at  these  ages.  These  years  are,  as  has  already  been 
said,  the  seed-time  of  efficiency.  Skilled  mechanics 
know  this,  for  they  often  try  to  protect  their  growing 
boys  by  careful  search  for  available  apprenticeship  oppor- 
tunities. These  are  the  years  which  come  peculiarly 
within  the  province  of  the  high  school.  But  it  is  not 
the  traditionally  organized  high  school  which  can  hope 
to  interest  children  who  have  decided  to  leave  on  their 
fourteenth  birthday,  a  period  reached  so  often  when 
they  are  only  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  grade  of  the  ele- 
mentary school. 


624  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Articulation  of  Elementary  and  High  School. — The 
main  defect  in  our  traditional  education  ladder  is  that, 
being  left  without  landing-places,  it  has  forced  the  chil- 
dren to  improvise  jumping-off  places  instead.  In  a  num- 
ber of  high  schools,  however,  the  rigidity  of  this  ladder 
scheme  has  been,  fortunately,  abandoned,  and  in  its 
place  has  been  substituted  a  structure  more  adjustable 
to  facts.  In  the  schools  of  Newton,  Mass.,  for  example, 
fourteen  and  fifteen  year  old  children  have  been,  for 
several  years,  transferred  from  the  grammar  grades  to  a 
special  high  school  conducted  by  a  capable  teacher  whose 
duty  it  is  to  fit  them  into  flexible  high  school  programmes 
of  study.  Effort  is  made  to  ascertain  the  future  plans, 
special  aptitudes,  the  home,  and  economic  conditions  of 
these  special  pupils,  so  that  the  secondary  instruction 
may  subserve  their  needs.  In  some  other  cities  the  de- 
partment heads  in  the  high  schools  have  been  required 
to  prepare  statements  showing  both  the  vocational  and 
cultural  bearing  of  each  of  the  courses  given.  Such  ad- 
justments and  such  reinterpretations  of  the  high  school 
scheme  make  for  a  fresh  sense  of  values  in  secondary 
education. 

Causes  of  Elimination. — A  sufficient  number  of  in- 
vestigations have  been  carried  on  through  both  public 
and  private  agencies  in  this  country  to  establish  the  fact 
that  only  a  small  porportion  of  the  children  who  drop 
out  of  the  elementary  school  to  go  to  work  do  so  because 
of  pressure  of  circumstances.  Miss  Eleanor  Colleton,  a 
Boston  teacher,  assigned  to  a  vocational-guidance  in- 
vestigation in  certain  school  districts  of  the  city,  tells  of  a 
girls'  school  in  which  the  fourteenth  birthday  is  regarded 
as  the  leaving  signal.  In  the  neighborhood  of  this  school 
it  seems  to  be  a  matter  of  course  that  a  fourteen-year-old 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  625 

girl  should  be  working  in  a  candy  factory,  tailoring  shop, 
or  department  store.  This  is  true  with  respect  to  boys 
also.  Academic  appeals  to  continue  in  school  seem 
futile  beside  the  lure  of  wage-earning  independence,  of 
mingling  with  sophisticated  adults,  of  counting  with 
older  brothers  and  sisters,  and  of  helping  struggling  par- 
ents who  in  their  narrow  field  of  livelihood  probably  rep- 
resent even  less  economic  value  than  do  their  blind-alley 
children.  Pitiful  necessity  does,  indeed,  tear  ambitious 
children  out  of  school.  Every  teacher  counts  among  her 
most  pathetic  experiences  such  separations  and  in  mo- 
ments of  reflection  must  marvel  at  the  supineness  of  so- 
ciety in  the  face  of  this  continual  shipwrecking  of  child 
ambition  and  capacity.  When  talent  saving  becomes 
a  community  duty  we  shall  probably  find  scholarships 
provided  for  these  children  after  the  effective  manner 
shown  by  the  scholarship  committee  of  the  Henry  Street 
Settlement  of  New  York  and  the  Schmiddlap  Fund  of 
Cincinnati.  For  these  children  we  shall  see,  too,  a  sys- 
tem of  continuation  schools  provided  which  shall  assure 
to  working  youth  an  opportunity  to  develop  into  nor- 
mal citizens. 

A  School  Investigation. — For  that  other  and  large  mass 
of  children  who  go  and  come  as  they  please  in  the  upper 
grades  of  the  elementary  school  and  in  the  high  schools 
(children  with  no  intention  to  go  to  college  and  no  desire 
to  prepare  for  a  professional  life),  a  large  variety  of  ex- 
perimental investigations  will  be  necessary  in  order  to 
work  out  a  programme  which  can  win  their  interest  and 
fit  them  for  a  right  start  in  life.  One  such  highly  in- 
structive experiment  has  been  in  operation  for  three 
years  at  the  North  Bennett  Street  Industrial  School,  a 
philanthropic  institution  in  the  North  End  of  Boston. 


626  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

In  September,  1909,  a  class  of  twenty-one  boys  about 
thirteen  years  of  age,  ranging  from  fifth  to  eighth  grades, 
was  received  from  the  Eliot  School,  a  neighboring  public 
grammar-school,  for  instruction  in  a  modified  course  in- 
cluding both  academic  and  industrial  work.  Four  pupils 
left  during  the  year  for  sufficient  reasons.  The  remain- 
ing seventeen  were,  many  of  them,  poor  boys.  Previous 
to  entering  this  class  they  had  expressed  their  intention 
of  leaving  school  as  soon  as  possible.  They  were  now  of 
age  to  receive  work  papers,  yet  in  September,  1910, 
all  but  one  returned  to  the  class.  He  had  moved  to 
Italy.     Five  new  pupils  were  received. 

Results  of  Prevocational  Course. — In  a  recent  an- 
nual report  of  this  institution,  it  is  stated  that  the 
prevocational  course  had  accomplished  the  following 
results : 

1.  Stimulated  intelligent  appreciation  of  industrial 
life  and  processes. 

2.  Developed  habits  of  industry  and  a  love  for  pro- 
ductive and  constructive  work. 

3.  Encouraged  the  spirit  of  co-operation  on  which  de- 
pends not  only  the  success  of  the  modern  shop  but  also 
the  success  of  the  individual  life. 

4.  Brought  the  life  and  interests  of  the  school  more 
closely  in  touch  with  the  working  life  to  be  lived  after 
school-days  are  over. 

5.  Revealed  to  the  pupils,  to  some  extent,  their  pecu- 
liar bent,  so  that  the  choice  of  an  occupation  may  be 
more  intelligently  made. 

6.  Given  the  ability  to  make  and  read  simple  working 
drawings. 

7.  Given  facility  in  handling  common  tools  and  the 
ability  to  keep  them  in  good  working  order. 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  627 

8.  Retained  the  pupils  in  school  two  years  longer  than 
would  otherwise  have  been  possible. 

9.  Secured  from  the  entire  class  the  voluntary  prom- 
ise to  return  in  the  fall  for  a  second  year. 

The  work  during  the  second  year  was  even  more  prom- 
ising. One  boy,  formerly  very  troublesome,  was  only 
prevented  from  leaving  by  the  fact  that  he  was  under 
fourteen;  he  took  such  interest  in  his  work  that  he  said 
he  would  leave  home  rather  than  leave  the  school,  as  his 
family  wished.  As  his  family  had  no  sufficient  means 
of  support,  he  worked  on  a  milk  wagon  from  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning  till  school  time.  Boys  bring  many  tools 
from  home  to  have  them  sharpened — axes,  knives,  etc. 
A  few  boys  have  borrowed  tools  from  the  school  over 
Sunday  to  do  outside  work  for  which  they  have  been 
paid.  Two  boys  took  a  job  putting  in  a  partition  in  a 
house  and  cutting  a  ticket  window  in  a  wall,  while  an- 
other roofed  a  piazza  for  his  father.  This  experiment  is 
suggestive  of  the  adjustments  which  a  high  school  will 
have  to  make  in  order  to  hold  on  to  the  children  other- 
wise destined  to  dead-end  employments. 

If  parents  and  teachers  have  been,  as  yet,  only  par- 
tially aware  of  what  the  high  schools  might  actually  do 
to  advance  the  life-career  interests  of  the  children,  they 
have  been,  on  the  whole,  thoroughly  ignorant  as  to  the 
relative  merits  and  disadvantages  of  the  various  em- 
ployments. Vocational  investigations  have  disclosed  the 
fact  that  the  jobs  which  give  no  training  offer  good  wages 
to  fourteen  and  fifteen  year  old  boys  and  girls,  while 
those  in  which  there  is  real  opportunity  pay  very  little 
to  beginners.  Almost  the  smallest  factor  in  the  taking 
of  a  particular  job  is  a  desire  to  learn  a  trade  or  the 
business.     Plan  plays  but  a  small  part  in  the  career  of 


628  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

most  children.  One  of  the  most  imperative  duties  of  the 
high  school,  then,  is  to  make  sure  that  its  pupils  do  not 
wander  through  the  four  years,  or  even  through  one  year, 
in  this  planless  way.  It  makes  little  difference  whether 
such  plans  be  permanent;  but  whether  there  is  a  guiding 
purpose  does  make  very  much  difference  in  the  child's 
attitude  toward  school  and  work. 

For  generations  the  schools  have  been  literally  eating 
out  of  the  employer's  hands.  Social  considerations  de- 
mand that  this  situation  be  ended.  The  chief  agency 
for  social  service  in  the  future  will  be  the  public  school. 
Within  less  than  a  generation  school  work  has  been 
transformed — text-books,  curriculums,  teaching  methods 
and  material,  and  even  school  architecture  have  been 
reconstructed  in  response  to  broadening  community  de- 
mands. More  far-reaching  changes  are  ahead  and  many 
of  these  are  in  the  line  of  this  far-reaching  vocational- 
guidance  movement. 

The  high  school  which  respects  the  unlikenesses  in  its 
pupils  and  shapes  its  work  in  sensitive  regard  for  their 
individualities,  which  gives  its  boys  and  girls  a  vital 
grasp  on  the  present  and  a  vision  of  the  more  fruitful 
future,  and  which  augments  with  its  large  constructive 
influence  the  world-wide  striving  to  free  youth  from  un- 
timely economic  blight — that  high  school  will  be  teaching 
with  the  strength  of  accomplishment  and  will  be  a  power 
in  the  land. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

AVOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE 
William  C.  Ruediger,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR     OF    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY     AND    DEAN    OF     TEACHERS 
COLLEGE,   THE   GEORGE   WASHINGTON   UNIVERSITY 

Recognition  of  the  Problem. — The  idea  is  beginning  to 
prevail  more  and  more  that  education  should  function 
not  only  in  the  home,  in  citizenship,  in  industry,  and  in 
business,  but  that  it  should  function  also  in  those  activi- 
ties that  people  pursue  for  the  purpose  of  enjoyment. 
This  is  manifesting  itself  in  the  relatively  frequent  dis- 
cussion of  such  topics  as  education  for  leisure,  education 
for  play,  and  education  for  recreation.  It  is  asserted 
that  the  needs  and  opportunities  for  recreation  have 
changed  with  the  developments  in  other  phases  of  life, 
that  these  needs  can  no  longer  be  adequately  met  on  an 
instinctive  and  untutored  plane,  and  that,  therefore,  the 
school  should  make  equipment  for  the  pursuits  of  leisure 
one  of  its  specific  aims. 

Activities  Influenced  by  Education. — The  activities  of 
life  that  education  should  influence  may  for  the  purposes 
of  this  chapter  be  divided  into  the  following  four  classes: 
vocational  activities,  group  or  social  activities,  avoca- 
tional  activities,  and  diversions.  The  first  two  of  these 
may,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  maintenance  of  human 
life  and  institutions,  be  regarded  as  primary  or  basal  and 
the  other  two  as  secondary  or  supplementary. 

629 


630  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Vocational  activities  under  ordinary  conditions  are  all 
those  that  are  undertaken  for  economic  gain  or  for  mak- 
ing a  livelihood.  Intelligent  skill  in  them  is  desired 
by  the  individual  because  it  tends  to  furnish  him  more 
abundantly  with  the  material  basis  of  existence  and  by 
society  because  it  tends  to  keep  the  individual  from 
becoming  a  public  charge. 

Social  or  group  activities  include  all  those  that  are 
undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  or  improving 
the  social  whole.  Education  in  them  is  obviously  desir- 
able for  both  social  and  personal  reasons.  They  may  be 
further  subdivided  into : 

(a)  Family  activities,  including  courtship  and  mar- 
riage, home  making  and  home  life,  care  and  education 
of  children,  and  the  like. 

(b)  Political  activities,  including  such  acts  as  atten- 
dance upon  caucuses  and  conventions,  political  propa- 
ganda, voting,  and  the  discharge  of  military  duties. 

(c)  Religious  and  charitable  activities,  including  per- 
sonal religious  observances,  church  life,  religious  propa- 
ganda, acts  of  charity  and  altruistic  co-operation,  partici- 
pation in  charitable  organizations,  etc. 

(d)  Society  activities,  including  calls  and  friendly  cor- 
respondence, club  life,  receptions,  parties,  picnics,  com- 
panionship, and  the  like.  From  the  standpoint  of  the 
maintenance  of  social  relationships,  of  furnishing  social 
cement,  it  is  no  doubt  proper  to  place  these  activities 
here,  although  from  the  personal  standpoint  they  may 
be  classified  also  under  the  head  of  social  diversions. 

The  two  classes  of  supplementary  activities  may  for  the 
present  be  considered  together.  They  include  all  those 
activities  that  are  undertaken  for  the  diversion,  enlarge- 
ment,  and  enrichment  of   the  personality.     Economic 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  631 

gain  and  the  perpetuation  and  elevation  of  the  social 
whole  are  in  the  immediate  view  either  disregarded  alto- 
gether or  are  relegated  to  a  secondary  position.  The 
immediate  aim  is  the  gratification  of  the  personal  tastes 
and  interests  for  the  enjoyment  that  this  gratification 
affords. 

Objective  and  Subjective  Standpoints. — It  is  clear 
that  the  points  of  view  from  which  the  basal  and  the 
supplementary  activities  have  just  been  considered  are 
not  alike.  The  former  were  considered  from  the  objec- 
tive and  the  latter  from  the  subjective  standpoint. 
Both  groups  may,  of  course,  be  considered  alternately 
from  both  standpoints.  The  increase  of  life  is  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  supplementary  activities  from  the  sub- 
jective standpoint  only,  the  furnishing  of  recreation  being 
their  significance  from  the  objective  standpoint.  Simi- 
larly, the  economic  and  social  activities  not  only  furnish 
the  material  basis  of  existence  and  preserve  and  improve 
the  social  whole  as  a  necessary  medium  of  human  life, 
but  they  are  also  enjoyable  in  themselves;  and  the  more 
enlightened  they  are  the  more  enjoyable  they  are. 

Nevertheless,  it  appears  to  be  true  that  the  objec- 
tive standpoint  is  characteristic  of  the  basal,  and  the 
subjective  standpoint  of  the  supplementary  activities. 
Even  the  individual  wants  intelligent  economic  and  so- 
cial efficiency  primarily  for  the  objective  rewards  that 
these  will  bring  him,  while  in  the  supplementary  activi- 
ties this  matter  is  reversed,  although  society  always  has 
a  right  to  step  in  and  put  a  veto  on  socially  harmful 
activities. 

The  recreation  that  the  supplementary  activities  bring 
is  always  obtained  best  as  a  by-product.  This  in  itself 
would  shift  the  regard  in  these  activities  primarily  to  the 


632  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

subjective  side,  but  this  is  not  all.  Even  when  it  is 
granted  that  the  conditions  of  life  are  prior  to  life  itself, 
it  is  still  true  that  the  ultimate  end  of  life  is  not  the 
making  of  a  living,  the  perpetuation  of  the  social  whole, 
or  recreation,  but  life.  It  is  to  this  that  all  must  ulti- 
mately minister,  as  they  unquestionably  do,  and  the 
direct  and  vital  manner  in  which  the  supplementary 
activities  minister  to  life  is  what  constitutes  their  pri- 
mary significance. 

Avocations  and  Diversions  Distinguished. — The  basis 
of  dividing  the  supplementary  activities  into  avocations 
and  diversions  lies  in  the  permanency  with  which  they 
are  respectively  pursued.  An  activity  to  which  one 
turns  for  a  relatively  brief  period  of  time,  without  neces- 
sarily any  systematic  recurrence,  may  be  called  a  diver- 
sion, while  the  term  avocation  may  well  be  reserved  for 
those  unconstrained  activities  to  which  one  turns  fre- 
quently and  systematically,  much  as  one  turns  to  one's 
vocation.  This  follows 'the  more  careful  common  usage. 
The  difference,  however,  is  not  so  much  one  of  kind  as 
of  degree.  Instead  of  two  distinct  classes,  we  have  here 
rather  two  limits  between  which  the  gratuitous  activi- 
ties of  life  are  distributed,  no  sharp  dividing  line  being 
evident. 

As  examples  of  diversions  may  be  mentioned  a  stroll 
through  the  woods  to-day,  attendance  upon  a  ball  game 
to-morrow,  and  visiting  with  friends  in  the  evening.  As 
avocations  may  be  mentioned  the  pursuits  of  music, 
painting,  literary  production  or  criticism,  scientific  re- 
search, and  craftsmanship  alongside  of  one's  vocation. 
The  two  are  obviously  supplementary,  neither  one  being 
able  to  take  the  place  of  the  other.  In  a  rounded  life 
both  have  a  legitimate  place.     Avocations,  however,  are 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  633 

on  a  more  distinctly  acquired  plane  and  are,  therefore, 
deserving  of  more  attention  by  the  school. 

Prevalence  of  Avocational  Pursuits. — Among  eminent 
people  of  history  avocational  pursuits  in  the  sense  here 
used  appear  to  have  been  common.  Thomas  Jefferson, 
a  lawyer  and  statesman  by  profession,  was  a  skilled  vio- 
linist and  is  said  to  have  played  or  practised  three  hours 
a  day.  Joseph  Jefferson,  the  actor,  painted  in  his  leisure 
hours  and  ultimately  produced  pictures  of  high  merit. 
Grote,  the  historian,  followed  banking  as  his  primary 
occupation  till  the  age  of  forty-nine. 

The  extent  to  which  eminent  men  have  pursued  avo- 
cational pursuits  was  recently  -made  the  subject  of  in- 
quiry by  one  of  my  graduate  students,  William  James 
Mundy.  In  consultation  with  me,  Mr.  Mundy  studied 
a  selected  list  of  20  musicians,  20  statesmen,  20  European 
rulers,  20  scientists,  20  divines,  and  25  Presidents  of  the 
United  States.  He  obtained  the  following  statistics  of 
avocational  activities  pursued : 

Musicians 70  per  cent 

Statesmen 40        " 

Rulers 70        " 

Scientists 45        " 

Divines 90        " 

Presidents 16       " 

Average 55  per  cent 

When  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  are  excluded 
the  average  rises  from  55  per  cent  to  65  per  cent.  All 
the  figures  are  probably  too  low,  for  Mr.  Mundy  con- 
sulted, in  the  main,  only  the  brief  biographies  found  in 
cycplopaedias. 

Space  forbids  the  inclusion  of  all  the  detailed  descrip- 


634  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

tions  given  by  Mr.  Mundy,  but  that  pertaining  to  the 
scientists,  which  is  one  of  the  briefest,  follows: 

"  Agassiz  was  a  naturalist,  geologist,  and  physician. 
Sir  Humphrey  Davy  was  a  lecturer  and  a  writer  of 
prose  and  poetry.  The  poet  Coleridge  said  that,  'had 
he  not  been  the  first  chemist,  he  would  have  been  the 
first  poet  of  his  age.'  Charles  Darwin  daily  devoted 
some  time  to  reading,  listening  to  reading  and  music, 
and  to  walking.  Erasmus  Darwin  wrote  poetry.  Gal- 
ileo even  in  early  life  ranked  in  musical  skill  and  inven- 
tion with  the  best  professors  of  the  art  in  Italy.  Sir 
Frederick  W.  Herschel  became  a  very  skilful  musician, 
theoretical  and  practical.-  Sir  John  F.  W.  Herschel  sol- 
aced his  declining  years  with  translating  the  Iliad  into 
verse,  having  earlier  executed  a  similar  version  of  Schil- 
ler's '  Walk.'  From  an  early  period  in  his  life,  Newton 
paid  great  attention  to  theological  studies.  He  wrote  a 
complete  'Church  History'  and  many  divinity  tracts, 
besides  his  scientific  works." 

Qualities  of  Acceptable  Avocations. — With  due  con- 
sideration of  time  and  purse,  the  first  item  to  take  into 
account  in  choosing  an  avocation  is  personal  interest.  It 
is  here  that  the  native  bent  of  a  person  can  be  given 
large  and  even  full  sway.  Conditions  do  not  always 
permit  a  person  to  choose  his  vocational  pursuit  along 
the  line  of  his  greatest  inclination,  and  whenever  this 
is  the  case  an  avenue  of  relief  is  always  open  in  a 
well-chosen  avocation.  But  even  when  the  vocation  is 
well  chosen  and  is  diversified  in  its  activities,  a  person 
still  needs  a  pursuit  that  is  unconstrained,  that  enlists 
the  full  measure  of  his  spontaneity,  and  that  grips  his 
personality. 

The  feature  through  which  an  avocation  most  sue- 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  635 

cessfully  grips  the  personality  is  progressive  achievement. 
This  must  be  considered  central,  for  there  is  no  joy  so 
life-giving  as  the  joy  of  achievement.  Not  mere  indul- 
gence of  the  powers  but  expression  with  a  purpose 
and  outcome  is  the  core  of  a  happy  life;  and  when  this 
is  accompanied  by  the  use  of  skill  the  combination  is 
ideal. 

The  examples  of  avocational  activities  given  above,  it 
will  be  remembered,  were  not  stated  merely  in  such 
terms  as  literature,  art,  science,  and  industry,  but  in 
such  terms  as  literary  production,  painting,  scientific  re- 
search, and  craftsmanship.  This  was  intentional.  It 
was  the  purpose  to  bring  into  the  foreground  the  expres- 
sive rather  than  the  absorptive  side  of  the  activities. 
The  mere  reading  of  literature,  for  example,  while  valu- 
able from  other  standpoints,  is  not  sufficient  from  the 
standpoint  of  an  avocational  pursuit.  This  should  cul- 
minate ultimately  in  some  form  of  literary  expression,  be 
this  composition,  criticism,  dramatics,  recitation,  or  in- 
terpretative reading.  The  same  principle  holds  also  in 
science,  art,  social  work,  and  other  fields  of  activity. 

But  while  creative  or  expressive  achievement  should 
be  regarded  as  the  ultimate  goal,  it  should  not  be  in- 
ferred that  reading  and  study  do  not  also  have  an  hon- 
ored place  in  an  avocational  pursuit.  They  form  an  in- 
dispensable aspect  of  nearly  every  type  of  progressive 
activity.  The  stage  of  independent  expression  must  of 
necessity  not  only  be  preceded  by  a  prolonged  course  of 
reading  and  study,  but  it  must  throughout  life  be  accom- 
panied thereby. 

The  progressive  feature  of  achievement  implies,  as  a 
third  characteristic  of  an  avocational  pursuit,  appeal  to 
the    intellect.     Without    this    characteristic    progressive 


636  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

study  and  achievement  would  be  impossible,  and  with- 
out progress  or  growth  interest  would  soon  wane.  Mere 
sensory  or  emotional  appeal  is  not  sufficient,  for  this 
soon  exhausts  itself  and  settles  back  to  the  common- 
place. 

As  a  fourth  desirable  quality  of  an  avocation  may  be 
mentioned  possibility  of  individual  pursuit.  This  is  de- 
sirable because  one  of  the  chief  functions  of  an  avocation 
is  to  serve  as  an  elevating  means  of  self-entertainment. 
We  cannot  always  depend  on  our  friends  for  amusement, 
but  without  having  recourse  to  a  cultivated  and  expand- 
ing interest  we  are  likely  to  become  a  burden  to  ourselves 
when  alone. 

This  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  the  fruits  of  an 
avocational  pursuit  are  not  to  be  shared  with  others. 
Indeed,  this  sharing  must  always  be  looked  upon  as 
one  of  the  most  attractive  outcomes  of  an  avocational 
activity.  We  are  inherently  so  constituted  as  to  want  to 
display  our  achievements  before  others  in  the  hope  of 
receiving  their  approval  and  admiration,  and  without 
this  an  activity  would  for  most  people  be  quite  empty. 
But  this  by  no  means  precludes  periods  of  private  work 
and  study;  it  rather  requires  them. 

Neither  does  this  characteristic  deny  that  the  isolated 
worker,  such  as  the  factory  hand  or  office  clerk,  should, 
as  a  general  rule,  aim  to  choose  an  avocation  that  will 
bring  him  into  companionship.  He  should  undoubtedly 
aim  in  his  leisure  hours  to  associate  with  his  fellows  both 
from  within  and  from  without  his  own  calling.  This  is 
an  objective  as  well  as  a  subjective  social  desideratum, 
and  when  it  can  be  provided  for  in  an  avocational  pur- 
suit it  should  be  done.  Sych  pursuits  as  church  work, 
choral  societies,  study ^elubs,  and  athletic  organizations 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  637 

do  provide  companionship,  but  they  also  offer  opportu- 
nities for  individual  study.  Yet  it  must  be  remembered 
that  social  activities  and  diversions  have  a  place  in  life 
on  their  own  account,  quite  independent  of  an  avoca- 
tional  pursuit. 

These  four  characteristics,  then,  may  be  regarded  as 
desirable  in  an  avocational  pursuit:  (i)  appeal  to  per- 
sonal interest;  (2)  opportunity  for  creative  or  expres- 
sive achievement;  (3)  appeal  to  the  intellect;  and  (4) 
possibility  of  individual  pursuit. 

Relation  of  Avocation  to  Vocation. — The  statement  is 
usually  made  that  the  vocation  and  the  avocation  should 
supplement  each  other;  that  when  the  vocation  is  of  a 
mental  nature  the  avocation  should  be  of  a  mechanical 
or  physical  nature;  when  the  vocation  keeps  one  indoors 
the  avocation  should  take  one  outdoors,  and  so  on. 
The  teacher,  the  lawyer,  or  the  merchant  should,  on  this 
basis,  select  an  avocation  like  cabinetmaking,  gymnas- 
tics, or  golfing,  while  the  farmer,  the  builder,  or  the  sur- 
veyor should  select  a  literary,  scientific,  or  artistic  pur- 
suit as  his  avocation. 

This  supplementary  relation  between  the  vocation 
and  avocation  may  be  ideal  but  it  cannot  be  taken  as 
the  primary  criterion  for  the  selection  of  an  avocation. 
This  must  always  be  personal  inclination.  It  is  desir- 
able, above  all  things,  that  the  avocation  offer  an  oppor- 
tunity for  whole-hearted  devotion.  Then,  if  it  also  con- 
trasts with  the  vocational  pursuit,  so  much  the  better, 
but  if  it  falls  Jn-ar  similar  line  of  activity  it  should  still 
be  chosen.  The  teacher  of  reading  may  make  dra- 
matics his  avocation,  the  teacher  of  English  may  be  a 
poet,  and  the  teacher  of  science  may  gain  his  highest 
joy  from  scientific  research.     A  farmer,  builder,  engi- 


638  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

neer,  or  business  man  may  pursue  a  special  phase  of 
his  vocation  as  his  avocation. 

This  close  relation  of  avocation  to  vocation  is  likely 
to  be  more  advantageous  than  disadvantageous.  It 
may  serve  as  a  source  of  immediate  help  and  inspiration 
in  the  vocation  and  furnish  additional  motive  for  the 
avocation.  The  objection  that  under  this  condition  no 
avocation  but  only  a  vocation  exists  is  without  force. 
Any  absorbing  activity  that  is  not  of  necessity  included 
in  one's  vocation  satisfies  the  requirements  of  an  avoca- 
tional  pursuit. 

It  may  even  be  argued  that  to  have  the  vocation  and 
avocation  fall  in  unrelated  lines  of  activity  is  undesira- 
ble. Under  this  condition  the  interest  engendered  in  the 
avocation  may  detract  time  and  attention  from  the  vo- 
cation. This  has  happened;  and  while  the  argument  is 
not  final  it  does  help  to  support  the  conclusion  that  the 
nature  of  one's  vocation  is  secondary  in  determining  the 
choice  of  one's  avocation. 

It  should  be  remembered  again  in  this  connection  that 
an  avocation  in  the  sense  here  used  is  not  the  only 
activity  through  which  one  gains  relief  from  the  strain 
and  routine  of  one's  vocation.  There  are  also  the  so- 
cial, intellectual,  and  physical  diversions  which  aid  in 
maintaining  the  balance  of  one's  personality.  These 
are  so  varied  that  they  are  inherently  adapted  to  appeal 
to  all  sides  of  one's  nature.  Physical  exercise  is,  indeed, 
so  important  that  it  must  often  be  given  special  con- 
sideration. It  is  only  occasionally  that  one  may  expect 
to  have  it  taken  care  of  in  one's  avocation. 

Vocation  and  avocation  touch  also  on  the  financial 
side.  As  a  rule,  an  avocation  costs  rather  than  produces 
money.     Music,  art,  and  science  as  avocational  pursuits 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  639 

are  proverbially  expensive  and  one  chooses  them  usually 
with  no  expectation  of  financial  return.  To  choose  them 
with  this  end  in  view  would  obviously  be  incongruous 
for  it  would  transfer  the  activity  into  the  vocational 
field. 

But  as  an  incidental  or  secondary  consideration  it  is 
not  always  possible  to  disconnect  avocational  activities 
from  financial  gain.  Some  activities  naturally  involve 
financial  considerations  in  their  culmination,  without 
which  they  are  largely  pointless.  When  a  farmer  makes 
a  phase  of  his  calling  an  avocational  pursuit  it  is  diffi- 
cult for  him  not  to  profit  thereby,  and  the  test  of  literary 
achievement,  although  followed  incidentally,  is,  to  some 
extent  at  least,  the  salability  of  the  product.  Other  ac- 
tivities may  be  similarly  involved.  The  beneficiaries 
may  reinvest  their  gains  in  the  extension  of  their  avoca- 
tional pursuits,  but  this  does  not  remove  the  fact  that 
they  have  gained. 

So  long  as  this  gain  is  looked  upon  as  incidental  it 
need  not  professionalize  the  avocational  activity,  but  it 
brings  us  face  to  face  with  another  relation  that  the  avo- 
cation may  bear  to  the  vocation.  After  having  gained 
sufficient  skill  in  one's  avocation  one  may  make  it  one's 
vocation  or  one  may  fall  back  upon  it  temporarily  as  a 
means  of  support.  Both  of  these  conditions  occasionally 
come  about.  The  papers  have  only  recently  told  us  of  a 
barber  who  gained  such  proficiency  in  musical  composi- 
tion, practised  for  his  enjoyment  in  leisure  hours,  that 
he  forsook  his  vocation  for  it.  Plant  and  animal  breed- 
ers occasionally  decide  to  specialize  in  the  lines  in  which 
they  started  primarily  for  recreational  purposes,  and 
music  has  often  proved  a  source  of  income  in  emergen- 
cies.   But  this  transfer  of  affections  must,  in  the  begin- 


640  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ning  at  least,  be  unpremeditated,  otherwise  the  activity 
would  have  to  be  looked  upon  as  vocational  from  the 
start. 

This  topic  should  not  be  left,  however,  without  em- 
phasizing the  desirability  of  keeping  the  avocation  on  an 
amateur  basis.  It  is  only  on  that  basis  that  free,  child- 
like, and  unalloyed  enjoyment  can  be  obtained.  Finan- 
cial considerations  are  always  likely  to  -bring  in  the  ele- 
ment of  constraint. 

Relation  of  Avocation  to  Social  Activities. — It  should 
be  evident  by  this  time  that  it  is  not  the  nature  of  the 
activity  but  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  pursued  that  de- 
termines an  avocational  pursuit.  The  avocation  may, 
therefore,  fall  not  only  within  the  field  of  the  vocation 
but  also  within  the  field  of  social  activities,  including  all 
four  of  the  subdivisions  made  above.  The  social  field 
appears  to  be  especially  well  suited  for  avocational  pur- 
suits. Opportunities  for  the  doing  of  far-reaching  good 
abound,  yet  relatively  few  of  these  have  been  placed  in 
the  hands  of  paid  and  professional  guidance.  Plenty  of 
room,  therefore,  is  left  for  volunteer  effort.  The  good 
that  may  be  accomplished  is  well  suited  for  leaving  a 
rich,  subjective  reward,  and  all  the  activities  offer  op- 
portunities for  companionship  and  social  leadership. 

Within  the  church  opportunities  for  avocational  inter- 
ests may  be  found  in  the  Sunday-school,  in  missionary 
activities,  and  in  directing  young  people's  societies;  in 
civic  life,  social  relief  work,  playgrounds,  adult  educa- 
tion, the  beautification  of  the  community,  and  the  like 
may  occupy  one's  attention;  and  in  politics  the  entire 
field  in  this  country  is  largely  on  an  amateur  basis.  In 
the  home  the  care  and  training  of  children,  the  furnish- 
ing of  the  house,  the  qualities  and  preparation  of  food, 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  641 

etc.,  may  be  raised  to  avocational  interests.  Much  aid 
in  this  matter  may  be  obtained  from  women's  clubs, 
which  furnish  social  stimuli  and  serve  as  clearing-houses. 

Needs  for  Avocational  Training. — The  needs  for  avo- 
cational training  and  guidance  are  both  general  and 
specific.  From  the  general  standpoint  it  should  require 
little  argument  to  show  that  young  people  stand  in  need 
of  guidance  and  training  in  the  choice  and  pursuit  of  avo- 
cational activities.  Relatively  few  adults  are  equipped 
for  the  spending  of  leisure  hours  in  a  significant  and 
elevating  manner.  As  a  result,  they  know  no  better  than 
to  spend  all  their  time  in  a  continual  and  monotonous 
grind  or  they  waste  or  dissipate  the  leisure  they  do  have. 
By  the  age  of  thirty-five  or  forty  life  has  become  nar- 
row and  uninteresting.  Vocational  activities  have  be- 
come largely  a  matter  of  routine,  their  novelties  have 
been  exhausted,  and  a  basis  for  an  avocational  pursuit 
is  lacking. 

Pedagogically,  the  need  for  avocational  training  is 
more  rather  than  less  urgent  than  the  need  for  vocational 
training.  The  conditions  of  life  compel  nearly  every  one 
to  choose  a  vocation,  to  prepare  for  it,  and  to  pursue  it, 
but  they  do  not  similarly  compel  one  to  choose,  master, 
and  follow  an  avocational  pursuit.  Consequently,  avo- 
cational pursuits  worthy  of  the  name  usually  go  by  de- 
fault. 

It  is  especially  important  that  young  people  be  im- 
pressed with  the  psychological  fact  that  the  interests  to 
be  enjoyed  in  middle  and  later  life  must  be  developed  in 
youth  and  cultivated  at  least  occasionally  throughout 
maturity.  Unless  this  is  done,  well-nigh  insurmount- 
able difficulties  are  encountered.  Interests  that  are  not 
cultivated  after  they  have  been  developed  atrophy  and 


642  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

even  die.  The  experience  of  Darwin  is  typical.  In 
his  youth  Darwin  was  fond  of  poetry  and  music,  but 
when  he  tried  to  come  back  to  them  after  years  of  inten- 
sive application  to  scientific  research  he  found  that  his 
taste  for  them  had  vanished.  His  mind,  as  he  says,  had 
become  a  mere  machine  for  grinding  out  scientific  gen- 
eralizations. 

Ignorant  of  this  fact,  young  men  entering  a  life  career 
frequently  say  to  themselves:  "I  shall  now  spend  the 
next  period  of  my  life  in  laying  up  a  fortune,  and  after 
that  is  obtained  I  shall  lay  off  and  have  a  good  time." 
I  The  outcome  is  nearly  always  the  same.  Not  infre- 
nj  quently  they  succeed  measurably  well  in  the  former, 
only  to  learn,  when  it  is  too  late,  that  they  have  left 
within  themselves  no  resources  for  enjoyment  outside  of 
their  callings. 

Women  in  the  home  are  exposed  to  narrowing  influ- 
ences even  more  than  men  in  business.  They  are  under 
great  temptation  to  devote  all  their  time  and  energy  to 
their  home  and  children,  neglecting  their  taste  for  read- 
ing, art,  and  social  activity,  and  when  their  children  are 
grown  they  find  themselves  with  no  interest  to  take  the 
place  of  caring  for  them. 

The  specific  needs  for  avocational  training  grow  out 
of  the  social  and  industrial  transformation  through 
which  we  are  passing.  Because  of  the  specialization  and 
concentration  of  industry  made  possible  by  the  applica- 
tion of  the  sciences  and  the  invention  of  labor-saving 
machinery,  the  division  of  labor  is  being  carried  further 
and  further,  and  in  consequence  labor  is  making  a  pro- 
gressively narrower  and  narrower  appeal  to  the  varied 
powers  and  impulses  of  the  personality.  This  is  affect- 
ing not  only  the  industries  but  also  commerce  and  the 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  643 

professions.  In  only  a  few  callings,  such  as  the  ministry, 
teaching,  and  farming,  is  a  reasonable  amount  of  breadth 
still  maintained,  and  even  here  monotony  may  be  found. 

The  point  involved  in  specialized  labor  is  not  so  much 
that  it  is  narrow  in  a  mechanical  sense  as  that  to  vast 
numbers  of  workers  it  does  not  furnish  opportunity  for 
initiative  and  constructive  achievement.  All  but  a  few 
are  carrying  out  orders  from  above.  They  are  following 
directions  conceived  by  some  one  else  and  are  using  their 
own  minds  for  self -direction  in  but  a  limited  degree. 
In  the  not  far  distant  past  this  was  very  different.  Then 
the  shoemaker  made  the  entire  shoe  and  the  watchmaker 
the  entire  watch.  In  this  there  was  room  for  thought 
and  the  joy  of  achievement. 

Furthermore,  trained  and  specialized  labor  increases 
production,  and  among  the  effects  of  this  is,  or  should  be, 
more  leisure  for  the  worker.  Employers  or  members  of 
their  families  have  long  had  some  leisure  in  which  they 
have,  in  a  measure,  cultivated  avocational  pursuits;  and 
the  struggle  of  labor  against  capital  for  shorter  hours  is,  in 
part  at  least,  a  struggle  for  the  leisure  to  which  the  econ- 
omy of  production  would  seem  logically  to  entitle  labor. 
With  this  leisure  the  life  of  the  "  man-with-the-hoe " 
type  of  laborer  might  be  transformed  into  the  life  of  a 
gentleman,  meaning  by  this  term  not  the  "gentleman  of 
leisure"  but  the  man  in  a  democracy  who  has  some  time 
and  taste  for  the  gentle  things  of  life.  But  if  this  ideal 
is  to  be  reached  not  only  leisure  but  training  for  leisure 
is  necessary.  Without  this  training  every  one  command- 
ing leisure,  whether  rich  or  poor,  is  likely  to  flounder. 

The  need  for  training  in  this  connection  is  further 
emphasized  by  the  fact  that  dissipation  on  the  part  of 
employees  is  rapidly  being  forbidden  by  railroad  com- 


644  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

panies  and  other  corporations.  The  Lackawanna  Com- 
pany recently  issued  instructions  to  its  employees  that 
contained  the  following:  "  Employees  in  engine,  train, 
yard,  and  station  service  are  prohibited  from  using  their 
time  while  off  duty  in  a  manner  that  may  unfit  them 
for  the  safe,  prompt,  and  efficient  performance  of  their 
respective  duties  for  the  company.  They  are  strictly 
enjoined  and  required  to  use  their  time  while  off  duty 
primarily  for  obtaining  ample  rest.  The  use  of  intoxi- 
cants while  on  or  off  duty,  or  the  visiting  of  saloons  or 
places  where  liquor  is  sold,  incapacitates  men  for  rail- 
road service,  and  is  absolutely  prohibited.  Any  viola- 
tion of  this  rule  by  employees  in  engine,  train,  yard,  or 
station  service  will  be  sufficient  cause  for  dismissal." 

The  School  and  Avocational  Guidance. — In  raising  the 
question  of  what  may  be  expected  of  the  school  in  help- 
ing young  people  to  equip  themselves  for  the  effective 
pursuit  of  such  avocational  activities  as  we  have  de- 
scribed it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  school  is 
only  one  of  several  agencies  concerned  in  this  matter. 
The  responsibility  should  be  shared  especially  by  the 
home  and  the  church;  but  in  the  present  state  of  social 
development  the  school  can  probably  do  the  most. 

The  school  can,  in  the  first  place,  direct  the  attention  oj 
young  people  to  the  importance  of  definite  preparation 
for  the  spending  of  leisure.  Young  people  now  pay  little 
or  no  attention  to  this  matter,  mainly  because  they  are 
unaware  of  its  existence.  They  think  much  and  are  told 
much  of  the  need  of  trained  vocational  efficiency  and  of 
being  public-spirited  citizens,  but  the  matter  of  recrea- 
tion and  unconstrained  achievement  is  allowed  to  take 
care  of  itself.  As  a  result,  it  is  usually  neglected  and 
the  person  finds  himself  in  middle  life  high  and  dry. 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  645 

The  possibilities  of  his  vocation  are  exhausted,  the  few 
diversions  he  has  now  seem  superficial,  and  the  interests 
upon  which  an  engaging  avocational  pursuit  might  be 
founded  are  largely  atrophied. 

The  duty  of  directing  the  attention  of  young  people  in 
this  matter  falls  primarily  to  the  upper  grades,  the  high 
school,  and  the  college.  The  high  school  principal,  it 
would  seem,  occupies  the  most  advantageous  position. 
He  has  the  pupils  at  the  most  favorable  age.  Their 
minds  are  just  opening  to  the  larger  meanings  and  values 
of  life  and  they  are  ripe  for  instruction.  This  instruc- 
tion the  principal  could  give  nowhere  more  effectively 
than  at  the  general  exercises  of  the  school. 

And  while  the  teachers  are  engaged  in  directing  the 
attention  of  young  people  to  avocational  pursuits  let 
them  aim  also  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  the  simple  and 
inexpensive  pleasures.  The  life-giving  value  of  a  diver- 
sion is  not  necessarily  proportional  to  its  cost  or  to  the 
glare  and  glitter  by  which  it  is  accompanied.  A  view 
of  the  lake  from  the  hilltop,  a  walk  or  drive  through  the 
country,  an  outing  in  the  woods,  the  reading  of  the  even- 
ing paper,  the  writing  of  a  friendly  letter,  and  a  con- 
templation of  the  stars  at  night  are  among  the  pleasures 
that  never  pall  and  never  grow  old. 

Closely  related  to  the  choice  of  an  avocation  is  the 
criticism  that  the  interests  which  the  school  so  laboriously 
cultivates  are  not  permanent  and  that,  therefore,  the 
effects  of  education  are  lost.  Pupils  study  and,  as  a 
rule,  are  interested  in  literature,  art,  history,  science, 
and  philosophy  while  in  school,  but  few  keep  up  their 
interests  when  out  of  school.  Like  the  educated  Indian, 
they  return  to  the  blanket. 

In  meeting  this  criticism  it  may  be  said,  to  begin  with, 


6±6  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

that  by  no  means  all  of  the  educative  effects  of  a  study 
are  lost  if  an  active  interest  in  the  study  is  not  main- 
tained after  school  life.  The  liberalizing  and  socializing 
values,  once  obtained,  are  largely  permanent;  and  the 
same  may  be  said  of  mental  discipline,  properly  con- 
ceived. 

In  the  second  place,  it  should  be  observed  that  there  is 
a  vast  difference  between  school  life  and  after-life  in  the 
opportunity  for  cultivating  a  large  variety  of  interests. 
It  is  the  business  of  a  student  in  school  to  cultivate  a 
broad  range  of  interests  in  order  that  he  may  find  himself 
and  gain  perspective  and  social  interest,  but  in  after-life 
the  pursuit  of  a  specific  vocation  becomes  his  chief  con- 
cern. This  necessarily  consumes  the  major  portion  of 
his  time  and  makes  it  impossible  for  him  to  keep  alive 
all  the  interests  he  cultivated  in  school. 

Thirdly,  we  should  realize  that  the  vocation  should, 
and  usually  does,  keep  alive  some  of  one's  higher  inter- 
ests. It  will  surely  do  this  if  it  can  be  properly  chosen. 
The  solution  regarding  the  interests  not  taken  care  of 
by  the  vocation  is  to  keep  alive  the  choicest  ones  by 
means  of  one  or  two  avocational  activities.  The  re- 
mainder may  occasionally  serve  as  diversions,  but  in  the 
main  they  must,  as  active  interests,  be  allowed  to  sub- 
side. In  regard  to  them  we  may  say  with  James:  "Not 
that  I  would  not,  if  I  could,  be  both  handsome  and  fat 
and  well  dressed  and  a  great  athlete,  and  make  a  million 
dollars  a  year,  be  a  wit,  a  bon-vivant,  and  a  lady-killer  as 
well  as  a  philosopher;  a  philanthropist,  a  statesman,  a 
warrior,  and  African  explorer  as  well  as  a  tone  'poet' 
and  a  saint.     But  the  thing  is  simply  impossible." 

But  in  this  matter  of  diversions  and  avocations  the 
school  can  do  more  than  direct  attention;  it  can  also  lead 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  647 

the  way.  It  can  do  this  especially  through  the  clubs 
and  organizations  of  the  students. 

The  clubs  of  the  school,  in  addition  to  their  other 
functions,  may  be  regarded  as  veritable  training  grounds 
for  the  intellectual  and  aesthetic  diversions  and  avoca- 
tions. It  should  be  their  aim  to  put  into  practice  in  a 
free  and  enjoyable  way  the  activities  of  the  various  de- 
partments. The  physics  club  may  develop  a  permanent 
interest  in  photography;  the  biological  club  may  teach 
the  language  of  the  birds  and  the  flowers;  the  social- 
science  club  may  develop  momentum  in  social  activities; 
the  German  club  may  impart  a  mastery  over  the  songs 
and  literature  of  Germany;  the  dramatic  club  may  foster 
the  drama;  the  art  club  may  develop  skill  with  the  brush 
or  pencil,  and  so  on;  while  the  literary  and  debating 
societies,  in  addition  to  their  specific  activities,  may 
serve  as  clearing-houses  for  all  the  clubs. 

The  number  of  clubs  running  in  any  one  year  would 
depend  both  on  the  size  of  the  school  and  the  opportu- 
nity for  gaining  competent  leadership.  A  large  school 
could  naturally  support  more  clubs  than  a  small  one. 
The  leadership  would  most  likely  come  from  the  faculty, 
but  it  might  also  come  from  the  home.  Here  is  a  point 
where  the  home  and  the  school,  as  well  as  other  social 
forces  and  the  school,  might  often  work  together. 

In  order  to  conserve  the  energy  of  both  the  teachers 
and  the  pupils,  the  teachers  might  take  turns  from  year 
to  year  in  directing  clubs  along  their  own  lines  of  interest. 
Especial  care  would  have  to  be  taken  to  conserve  the 
energies  of  the  pupils.  No  pupil  should  be  allowed  to 
attend  too  many  clubs  in  any  one  year.  He  can  try  him- 
self out  in  successive  years.  Neither  should  the  teach- 
ers forget  that  the  pupils  should  be  led  clearly  to  realize 


648  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

that  the  clubs,  as  well  as  being  immediately  enjoyable, 
are  opportunities  for  cultivating  tastes  and  activities 
that  may  be  carried  into  after-life. 

The  development  of  permanent  interests  in  athletic 
activities  rests  largely  with  athletic  associations.  Inter- 
est in  athletics  touches  especially  closely  the  relation  of 
the  school  to  health  and  the  establishment  of  health 
habits.  It  is  now  expected  that  the  health  of  pupils 
instead  of  being  enfeebled  should  improve  with  progress 
through  the  school,  and  that  definite  and  lasting  habits 
and  ideals  for  the  maintenance  of  health  become  estab- 
lished by  the  time  the  student  leaves  the  high  school. 

In  this  matter  it  appears  to  be  necessary  to  make 
a  distinction  between  physical  education  and  physical 
exercise.  The  former  has  as  its  function  the  shaping 
of  the  form  and  bearing  of  the  body  and  the  latter  the 
maintenance  of  physical  buoyancy  and  vigor.  One  be- 
longs to  the  realm  of  work  and  the  other  to  the  realm  of 
play.  The  school  has  a  primary  obligation  toward  both, 
but  its  obligation  toward  the  latter  is  the  more  far- 
reaching.  The  body  and  bearing  once  formed  may  be 
maintained  through  habit  or  a  minimum  of  attention, 
but  exercise  is  needed  continually  throughout  life. 

The  fact  that  the  maintenance  of  health  through  ex- 
ercise is  a  perpetual  problem  places  the  duty  upon  the 
school  of  equipping  young  people  with  physical  diver- 
sions that  may  be  carried  through  life.  The  pupils 
should  be  made  clearly  aware  of  the  need  of  the  diver- 
sion and  should  be  led  consciously  to  prepare  for  it. 

The  development  of  physical  diversions  that  will  ac- 
tually be  carried  into  life  presents  peculiar  difficulties. 
This  is  because  people  differ  greatly  in  the  amount  of 
exercise  they  require  and  because  individuals  will  not  for 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  G49 

any  considerable  length  of  time  follow  systematic  courses 
of  exercise  by  themselves. 

The  fact  that  people  will  not  exercise  regularly  by 
themselves  makes  it  necessary  that  the  social  factor 
be  included  in  physical  diversions  whenever  possible. 
Plays  and  games  must  be  socialized.  Unless  this  is  done 
they  are  not  likely  to  be  long  effective.  The  revival  of 
folk-dances  is  significant  in  this  connection,  but  tennis, 
croquet,  baseball,  and  the  like  also  require  social  co- 
operation; and  walking,  driving,  rowing,  swimming,  and 
skating  may  easily  be  made  social.  Municipal  play- 
grounds and  amusement  halls,  in  sufficient  number  for 
adults  no  less  than  for  children,  would  go  far  in  solving 
this  problem.  Children's  playgrounds  should  adopt  it 
as  one  of  their  explicit  functions  to  develop  skill  in  games 
that  may  be  adopted  as  permanent  diversions.  But,  to 
achieve  this  end,  games  in  which  adults  take  an  interest, 
such  as  tennis,  baseball,  and  water  sports,  will  have  to  be 
extensively  substituted  for  the  childish  games  that  now 
nionopolize  the  arena. 

In  all  this  the  difference  in  the  amount  and  kind  of 
exercise  needed  by  individuals  should  receive  conscious 
consideration.  Whereas,  one  needs  one  hour  or  more  of 
vigorous  exercise  in  the  open  air  every  day  to  keep  in 
trim,  another  may  require  much  lighter  exercise  and  per- 
haps only  an  hour  or  two  a  week.  If  he  takes  more  he 
becomes  exhausted  and  will  actually  have  his  enjoy- 
ment and  efficiency  lowered. 

A  vital  point  in  developing  and  practising  physical 
diversions  is  the  fact  that  the  attention  should  always 
be  centred  primarily  on  the  activity  or  the  achievement 
and  not  on  the  profit  of  the  exercise  itself.  Play  and  not 
work  should  be  the  dominating  attitude.     It  is  only 


650  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

when  the  spirit  of  play  dominates  the  mind  that  care  is 
relegated  to  the  background  and  that  depth  of  breath- 
ing, fulness  of  heart-beat,  and  freedom  of  activity  are 
achieved.  Health,  like  pleasure,  is  delusive,  being  gained 
best  by  indirection.  It  is  this  principle  that  demands 
the  classification  of  the  physical  exercises  among  the 
diversions. 

Another  opportunity  through  which  the  school  may 
exert  an  elevating  influence  on  the  choice  of  diversions 
and  avocations  is  the  content  and  method  of  instruction. 
Young  people  cannot  be  expected  extensively  to  choose 
art,  literature,  or  science  as  recreative  pursuits  unless  the 
school  succeeds  in  enlisting  their  interest  in  these  sub- 
jects, and  the  school  cannot  hope  to  enlist  this  interest 
without  significant  and  contentful  subject-matter  that 
is  taught  in  a  meaningful  and  appreciative  manner. 

We  are  still  aiming  too  much  for  the  form  and  the 
symbol  and  not  enough  for  the  content  and  function  in 
our  teaching.  This  not  only  kills  the  interest  in  the 
thing  taught  but  also  stupefies  the  method  of  teaching. 
It  is  this  that  accounts  in  a  large  measure  for  the  fact 
that  many  students  in  the  high  school,  the  elementary 
school,  and  the  college  are  pleased  to  have  done  with 
many  of  their  studies  and  hope  never  to  be  obliged  to 
turn  to  them  again. 

Studies  in  school  should  be  pursued  in  the  same  spirit 
in  which  they  are  meant  to  be  pursued  in  life.  This 
holds  for  all  studies,  but  is  particularly  true  for  music, 
art,  and  literature,  which  form  the  main  body  of  the 
aesthetic  diversions  and  avocations.  It  is  the  primary 
function  of  these  subjects  to  entertain,  to  inspire,  and  to 
add  to  the  richness  of  life,  and  these  should  be  the  ends 
aimed  for  in  school.     The  method  of  study  should  be  at- 


AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE  651 

tuned  to  harmonize  with  these  ends.  The  spirit  of  the 
classroom  should  be  one  of  sympathy  and  co-operation, 
the  teacher  and  the  pupils  contributing  and  appreciating 
in  turn.  If  the  course  is  one  in  content,  the  attention 
should  always  be  primarily  on  the  content,  formal  mat- 
ters being  brought  in  only  to  the  extent  that  they  are 
needed  to  make  the  content  clear.  Only  in  this  way  can 
a  deep  and  permanent  interest,  one  likely  to  be  carried 
over  into  life,  be  developed.  True,  the  teacher  must  be 
one  who  knows  the  goals  of  instruction  and  who  him- 
self profoundly  appreciates  what  he  is  teaching,  but  this 
is  true  of  all  teachers  who  make  a  success  of  their  work. 

Let  no  one  jump  to  the  hasty  conclusion  either  that 
the  spirit  of  delight  is  incompatible  with  hard  work  or 
with  the  invocation  of  the  concept  of  duty.  A  joyful 
end  is  the  very  kind  that  will  elicit  strenuous  effort,  pro- 
vided only  that  the  effort  is  relevant  to  the  end. 

That  aesthetic  appreciation  of  the  cultivated  kind  pre- 
supposes hard  work  is  undeniable,  and  young  people 
should  be  led  to  realize  this  fact  early  in  their  educa- 
tional career.  The  masters  in  literature,  art,  and  music 
cannot  be  appreciated  through  casual  attention.  They 
must  be  studied,  and  only  after  careful  study  is  the  door 
of  ready  appreciation  opened. 

This  study  must  not  only  include  underlying  princi- 
ples and  historical  relationships,  but  also  practice  in  the 
technic.  Without  having  practised  with  a  pen,  brush, 
voice,  or  musical  instrument,  one  cannot  fully  appreci- 
ate literature,  art,  and  music.  Like  other  educational 
ends,  this  appreciation  involves  both  impression  and 
expression. 

Literature  is  now  granted  about  as  much  time  in 
courses  of  study  as  can  be  afforded  for  it.     It  is  studied 


652  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

both  from  the  contentful  and  the  historical  standpoint 
and  if  it  is  not  chosen  often  enough  as  a  diversion  or 
avocation,  the  fault  must  be  ascribed  to  those  who 
teach  it.  But  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  art  and  music. 
These  subjects  have  only  begun  to  be  studied  from  the 
contentful  side  in  elementary  and  high  schools.  The 
drawing  work  in  these  schools  should  be  accompanied 
by,  or  culminate  in,  the  systematic  study  of  painting, 
sculpture,  and  architecture,  now  readily  done  through 
copies,  and  the  music  work  should  lead  to  an  acquain- 
tance with  the  masterpieces  of  music.  Here  the  player- 
piano,  Victrola,  and  other  devices  may  serve  as  means 
of  presentation.  With  these  artificial  aids  young  people 
may  become  acquainted  with  the  masters  and  master- 
pieces of  painting,  sculpture,  and  music  quite  as  readily 
as  with  the  masters  and  masterpieces  of  literature. 

The  principles  that  must  be  observed  in  securing  the 
recreative  values  of  the  aesthetic  subjects  apply  also  to 
the  natural  and  the  social  sciences.  In  these  subjects, 
as  in  others,  the  content  itself  must  be  aimed  for  if  a 
sympathetic  attitude  toward  them  is  to  be  developed. 
The  social  sciences  should  interpret  human  institutions, 
having  in  view  both  practical  and  social  ends,  while  the 
natural  sciences  should  perform  a  similar  service  in  re- 
spect to  the  phenomena  of  nature.  Both  groups  should 
be  made  to  connect  vitally  with  the  immediate  environ- 
ment of  the  student.  History  should  mean  the  home 
locality  with  its  pioneers  and  heroes,  as  well  as  Harper's 
Ferry  and  John  Brown;  botany  should  mean  the  weeds 
and  grasses  in  the  back  yard  as  well  as  microscopes  and 
herbariums,  and  so  on.  But  these  results  are  now  not 
often  achieved.  Students  take  economics  and  sociology, 
but  of  the  actual  conditions  of  our  industrial,  commer- 


AVOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE  653 

cial,  and  social  life  they  often  learn  little.  Physics  in 
most  high  schools  is  still  a  matter  of  accurate  measure- 
ment and  applied  mathematics,  with  seldom  a  view  be- 
yond the  classroom  and  laboratory,  while  botany  and 
zoology  are  studied  in  an  equally  schematic  and  tech- 
nical way. 

The  natural  sciences  in  particular  are  rich  in  recrea- 
tive content  that  the  school  can  help  to  reveal.  The 
endless  varieties  of  plants  and  animals  may  go  quite  un- 
noticed without  the  systematic  and  appreciative  insight 
that  may  be  given  by  the  school;  and  the  person  who 
knows  the  stars  and  the  planets,  who  understands  their 
movements,  and  who  is  acquainted  with  the  constella- 
tions and  their  associated  myths  has  a  source  of  delight 
that  he  would  not  readily  exchange.  And  what  would  a 
person  with  a  real  and  vital  knowledge  of  physical,  chem- 
ical, and  geological  phenomena  take  in  exchange  for 
what  these  add  to  the  appreciation  of  the  world  in  which 
he  lives? 

These  three  avenues,  then,  are  open  to  the  school  for 
developing  diversions  and  avocations  on  a  plane  com- 
mensurate with  human  endowment:  (i)  the  school  may 
direct  the  attention  of  young  people  to  the  character 
and  importance  of  these  activities  and  to  the  necessity 
of  preparing  for  them;  (2)  it  may  help  them  to  get  a 
foretaste  of  these  activities  through  the  club  life  of 
the  school;  and  (3)  it  may  order  its  subject-matter  and 
methods  of  instruction  so  that  vital  and  sustained  inter- 
ests will  be  developed. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

CO-OPERATION  IN  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH 

James  Fleming  Hosic,  Ph.M. 
professor  of  english,  chicago  normal  college 

The  Importance  of  Co-operation. — The  subject  of  co- 
operation in  teaching  the  use  of  the  vernacular  has  not 
received  the  attention  it  deserves.  Mastery  of  the  na- 
tional language  is  easily  the  most  important  attainment 
which  it  is  the  business  of  the  school  to  bring  about. 
The  growth  of  the  mind  and  the  power  to  press  any  life 
purpose  to  a  successful  outcome  are  alike  dependent 
upon  it.  But,  as  I  shall  presently  show,  unless  progress 
in  learning  to  speak,  to  write,  and  to  read  correctly  and 
effectively  is  enabled  by  the  conduct  of  the  work  of  every 
class  in  the  school,  the  good  offices  of  the  English  teacher 
will  result  in  but  meagre  fruitage. 

Difficulty  of  Learning  Language. — If  any  are  unim- 
pressed with  the  importance  of  co-operation  they  have 
but  to  reflect  upon  the  character  of  the  processes  which 
the  learning  of  language  involves.  These  constitute  a 
group  of  habits  at  once  the  most  significant  and  the 
most  difficult  to  establish  of  all  those  which  make  up  the 
human  personality.  So  intimate  is  the  relation  between 
speech  and  character  that  Charles  Lamb  was,  no  doubt, 
justified  in  saying  that  he  could  judge  of  a  man's  culture 
and  intellectual  force  by  means  of  a  few  moments'  con- 
versation with  him  while  waiting  under  a  friendly  door- 

654 


THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH  655 

way  during  a  passing  shower.  The  adjustments,  on  the 
other  hand,  which  speech  and  writing  require  far  exceed 
in  delicacy  and  complexity  those  demanded  by  any  other 
aspect  of  human  behavior.  Consider  what  happens  when 
an  idea  comes  into  the  mind,  sets  up  the  appropriate 
motor  response,  and  is  expressed  in  a  series  of  articu- 
late sounds,  in  the  making  of  which  the  whole  vocal 
organism  is  called  into  rapid  action,  the  tongue,  lips,  and 
throat  assuming  position  after  position  with  lightning 
rapidity  and  with  wonderful  accuracy.  Even  more 
marvellous  is  the  process  of  reading  aloud  from  the 
printed  book,  as  Dearborn,  Huey,  and  others  have  re- 
cently set  forth. 

Consider  now  that  these  language  adjustments  begin 
in  early  infancy,  are  operative  during  every  waking  hour, 
and  have  fairly  established  themselves  by  the  time  a 
child  enters  the  high  school.  If  the  pupil  then  speaks 
and  writes  and  reads  well,  it  is  necessary  only  that  the 
new  environment  foster  a  growth  well  begun,  not  hinder 
it  or  destroy  it.  If,  however,  the  entering  student  has 
made  small  progress  in  language  or  has  accumulated  a 
stock  of  bad  practices,  to  save  him  will  require  the  united 
efforts  of  all  the  teachers  he  may  meet.  How  profoundly 
true  this  is  appears  in  the  doctrine,  now  widely  accepted, 
that  language  habits  are  special,  not  general;  that  pro- 
ficiency in  a  given  situation  gives  no  positive  assurance 
that  we  shall  find  it  in  another.  To  illustrate  from  our 
common  experience,  pupils  often  express  themselves 
well  in  the  English  classroom  and  very  badly  elsewhere. 
Hence  it  is  in  a  sense  true  that  unless  all  instructors 
teach  English  it  is  nearly  useless  for  any  to  do  so.  For 
this  reason  co-operation  deserves  our  most  serious  con- 
sideration. 


656  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


OBSTACLES   TO   BE   OVERCOME 

By  "co-operation  in  English"  we  mean  the  working 
together  of  all  the  teachers  of  a  school  to  secure,  on  the 
part  of  their  students,  the  correct  and  effective  use  of 
oral  and  written  expression.  We  have  glanced  at  the 
necessity  of  this;  let  us  now  consider  with  some  care  the 
difficulties  which  any  plan  of  co-operation  will  involve. 

i.  Lack  of  Uniform  Standards. — There  can  be  no 
progress  in  co-operating  in  English  teaching  so  long 
as  some  departments  support  by  example,  or  at  best 
tolerate,  language  which  others  condemn,  or — what  is 
equally  destructive — offer  no  positive  stimulus  to  accu- 
rate and  adequate  expression  in  speech  and  in  writing. 
It  may  be  that  the  teacher  of  English  is  overprecise,  a 
purist,  and  prizes  too  little  the  plain  and  straightforward 
expression  of  the  results  of  observation  and  thought.  It 
may  be  that  the  teacher  of  science  prides  himself  on  his 
freedom  from  conventionality  and  has  scant  respect  for 
good  usage.  It  is,  at  any  rate,  more  than  likely  that  each 
goes  his  own  way,  quite  unfamiliar  with  the  attitude  of 
the  other,  while  the  pupil  finds  it  easy  to  choose  the  path 
of  least  resistance. 

Evil  of  Overspecialization. — One  reason  for  such  a 
state  is  the  overspecialization  of  students  in  the  univer- 
sities and  of  teachers  in  the  high  schools.  It  is  now  pos- 
sible for  young  men  and  young  women  to  secure  the 
bachelor's  degree,  and  with  it  a  recommendation  to  a 
high  school  position,  without  adequate  training  in  the 
arts,  acquaintance  with  the  humanities,  or  grounding  in 
the  sciences,  as  the  case  may  be.  The  result  is  a  high 
school  course  made  up  of  a  series  of  unrelated  units  and 


THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH  657 

high  school  instruction  in  which  each  department  not 
only  fails  to  support  the  others  but  may  even  nullify  their 
efforts.  The  teacher  who  knows  neither  science  nor  in- 
dustrial art  will  make  small  headway  in  training  a  class 
to  express  their  live  interests,  while  the  teachers  of  those 
subjects  who  know  little  English  constantly  offend  good 
taste  in  language  and  signally  fail  to  complete  the  train- 
ing which  the  English  teacher  has  begun. 

All  Teachers  Should  Be  Trained  in  English. — A 
strong  reaction  against  a  one-sided  preparation,  which 
can  only  result  in  mutual  lack  of  sympathy  and  support, 
and  which  tends  to  disintegrate  the  life  of  the  pupil  in- 
stead of  unifying  and  harmonizing  it,  has  already  set  in. 
It  may  be  desirable  to  require  each  teacher  in  the  large 
schools  to  give  instruction  in  at  least  two  departments  in 
order  to  secure  the  necessary  breadth  and  catholicity  of 
interest.  From  the  numerous  suggestions  which  have 
come  to  my  notice  I  quote  the  following,  which  is  part  of 
a  series  of  resolutions  presented  by  a  special  committee 
to  the  Conference  of  High  Schools  with  the  University 
of  Illinois  in  November,  1912.1 

All  candidates  for  high  school  teaching  positions  should  have 
work  in  English  extending  through  at  least  two  years,  with 
emphasis  upon  oral  and  written  composition.  The  committee 
is  impelled  to  make  this  recommendation  because  of  the  defi- 
ciencies in  English  that  so  frequently  characterize  high  school 
teachers.  The  committee  recognizes,  however,  that  even  the 
best  technical  training  in  English  composition  will  not  alone 
suffice  to  accomplish  the  desired  results.  In  addition  to  this, 
every  effort  should  be  made  in  all  classes  to  develop  adequate 
habits  of  clear  and  concise  expression  and  to  encourage  effective 

1  The  committee  was  composed  of  the  following:  L.  C.  Lord,  Theodore 
Kemp,  W.  C.  Bagley,  H.  B.  Wilson,  and  W.  R.  Spurrier,  chairman. 
See  the  English  Journal,  for  February,  1913,  p.  135. 


658  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

standards  of  diction,  syntax,  and  logical  organization.  We 
recommend  that  the  conference  urge  upon  college  and  univer- 
sity authorities  the  importance  of  emphasizing  this  phase  of 
education  in  all  classes  in  which  intending  high  school  teachers 
are  enrolled. 

The  last  recommendation  is  an  interesting  confirma- 
tion of  the  necessity  of  co-operation  in  English  even  in 
the  college. 

2.  Absence  of  Common  Aims. — But  granting  that  the 
teachers  of  a  school  have  been  broadly  and  adequately 
prepared  and  that  there  exists  among  them  reasonable 
agreement  as  to  what  standards  of  expression  in  language 
should  be  set  up,  difficulties  will  remain.  Prominent 
among  these  is  that  of  setting  up  common  aims.  Over- 
specialization  is  the  chief  stumbling-block  here  also. 
The  teacher  of  physics  wants  to  make  scientists  and  the 
teacher  of  English  wants  to  make  novelists,  while  both 
should  be  eager  to  make  men.  Neither  has  time,  or  will 
take  it,  to  visit  the  classes  of  the  other,  and  no  com- 
mon interests  are  discovered.  Moreover,  co-operation  is 
very  generally  viewed  as  one-sided.  It  is  supposed  to 
be  a  device  for  giving  English  a  large  place  in  the  pro- 
gramme or,  on  the  other  hand,  a  means  by  which  teach- 
ers of  other  subjects  may  unload  their  manuscripts  and 
escape  the  grind  of  correcting  them.  These  objections 
must  first  be  removed  before  the  necessary  willingness 
to  co-operate  can  be  secured. 

English  and  Other  Studies. — It  is  not  the  business  of 
the  science  teacher  to  give  instruction  in  the  principles 
of  English  composition.  That  subject  has  its  technic, 
and  instruction  in  the  technic  of  composition  requires 
skill  born  of  experience  as  in  the  case  of  any  other  sort 
of  instruction.     It  will  be  sufficient  if  the  science  teacher 


THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH  659 

will  but  require  his  pupils  to  employ  to  the  full  whatever 
command  of  language  they  possess.  So  far  as  correct- 
ness is  concerned,  it  is  certainly  true  that  high  school 
pupils  rarely  make  mistakes  out  of  ignorance.  They 
know  what  is  right  but  fail  to  choose  it.  This  all 
teachers  must  insist  that  they  do  and,  like  Goldsmith's 
village  preacher,  practise  it  themselves.  Teachers  in 
departments  other  than  English  need  not,  then,  fear 
encroachment,  for  it  is  demanded  only  that  they  re- 
quire the  pupils  to  use  the  knowledge  they  have. 

This  doctrine  may,  however,  be  too  narrowly  inter- 
preted. Many  proceed  on  the  supposition  that  co-opera- 
tion in  English  means  merely  correcting  bad  grammar, 
bad  pronunciation,  and  bad  spelling,  with  the  possible 
addition  of  insistence  on  neat  manuscript.  These  are  cer- 
tainly desiderata.  "  These  ought  ye  to  have  done  and 
not  to  have  left  the  other  undone."  Language  is  almost 
identical  with  thought.  Meagreness,  confusion,  and  in- 
exactness of  expression  are  fairly  indicative  of  like  quali- 
ties of  idea.  When  all  is  said  that  can  be  said  for  those 
who  think  by  means  of  images,  attitudes,  or  what-not, 
the  fact  remains  that  almost  all  of  our  thinking  is  done 
with  words.  Hence,  when  the  teacher  of  geometry  in- 
sists on  crystal  clearness  of  statement,  he  is  wisely  mak- 
ing sure  that  the  pupil  has  grasped  the  idea;  when  the 
teacher  of  history  requires  the  evidence  on  a  point  to  be 
properly  arranged  and  adequately  set  forth  he  is  in  re- 
ality bringing  the  individual  and  the  class  to  a  complete 
consciousness  of  the  facts  involved,  is  assuring  full  knowl- 
edge where  half  knowledge  lurked  before.  As  soon  as  all 
teachers  understand  this  and  act  accordingly,  our  prob- 
lem will  be  practically  solved.  As  it  is  now,  we  divine 
what  is  passing  in  the  pupil's  mind,  supply  the  words 


660  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

which  he  cannot  find,  and  hasten  on,  with  a  resulting 
lack  of  thoroughness  which  is  the  most  crying  weakness 
of  our  schools.  A  few  things  properly  mastered,  a  few 
steps  carefully  taken,  would  result  in  more  knowledge 
and  better  training  than  we  now  secure  by  our  hurried 
attempt  to  orient  the  boy  in  his  teens  in  all  the  formu- 
lated and  predigested  experience  of  the  race.  And  there 
is  no  more  efficient  means  of  assimilation  and  mastery 
than  complete,  accurate,  and  adequate  expression  in 
speech  and  writing.  Hence  the  teacher  of  English  should 
enforce  a  few  simple  principles  of  composition  that  will 
enable  the  pupil  to  plan  and  execute  an  oral  report  or  a 
paper  in  history  or  in  science,  and  the  teachers  of  those 
subjects  should  aid  the  pupil  to  secure  such  a  grasp  of 
the  subject-matter  as  will  make  such  reports  and  papers 
possible. 

3.  Bad  Working  Conditions. — But  quite  enough  has 
been  said  about  teachers.  They  are  unable,  however 
willing,  to  solve  the  problem  alone.  School  officers  and 
administrators  must  provide  the  necessary  conditions. 
Suppose  the  English  teacher  meets  a  class  of  forty  pupils 
each  period  of  the  school  day.  This  is  a  situation  some- 
what worse  than  the  average,  but  it  is  by  no  means  un- 
known. How,  in  that  case,  will  he  give  sympathetic 
attention  to  the  interests  of  his  pupils  so  that  their  prac- 
tice in  speaking  and  writing  may  react  favorably  on  their 
work  in  other  classes?  How  will  he  attend  carefully  to 
the  individual  in  order  that  his  grasp  of  principles  may 
be  assured?  How  will  he  retain  sufficient  energy  to  con- 
sult with  his  colleagues  and  devise  plans  of  assault  on 
particularly  stubborn  fastnesses  of  metropolitan  polyglot 
or  rural  patois?  We  write  a  course  of  study  for  the 
English  teacher  and  crowd  it  with  literary  masterpieces 


THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH  661 

— thought  important  for  those  who  will  attend  college. 
Then  we  demand  more  than  twice  as  much  work  of  him 
as  he  can  possibly  do  well,  and  wonder  why  he  does  not 
succeed  in  vanquishing,  single-handed,  the  foes  of  clear 
thinking  and  correct  and  clear  expression  which  have 
been  intrenched  for  years  and  which  can  now  command 
aid  and  succor  from  all  sides  during  every  waking  hour. 

As  for  teachers  of  other  subjects,  while  they  are  not  so 
grievously  overburdened,  yet  they,  too,  are  often  under 
the  necessity  of  hurrying  through  a  heavy  course,  with 
too  many  pupils  to  be  able  to  think  of  the  possibility  of 
dividing  with  some  one  else  responsibility  for  mastery  of 
the  vernacular. 

Co-operation  a  Problem  of  Economics. — Ultimately 
the  problem  of  co-operation  is  one  for  the  principal,  the 
superintendent,  and  the  school  board.  It  is  primarily  a 
question  of  economics.  The  task  of  providing  a  people's 
college  in  every  town  and  section,  to  which  the  humblest 
may  freely  go  and  in  which  he  may  receive  instruc- 
tion in  almost  every  branch  of  human  knowledge  and 
training  in  every  art  known  to  man,  is  greater  than  is 
generally  realized.  To  make  our  already  large  invest- 
ment pay,  we  must  more  than  double  it.  A  fair  ques- 
tion may  be  raised  as  to  whether  we  are  justified  in 
diverting  large  sums  for  the  purchase  of  equipment  to 
turn  out  a  few  would-be  engineers,  for  example,  when  we 
do  not  provide  adequately  for  training  all  in  the  funda- 
mental arts  of  life.  At  all  events,  it  will  require  as  much 
zeal  and  pride  and  generous  outlay  to  secure  notable  re- 
sults in  English  as  in  moulding  and  turning,  and  the 
sooner  this  is  realized  the  sooner  we  shall  get  results. 

The  Principal  Must  Lead  and  Direct. — In  a  given 
school,  then,  co-operation  in  English  must  be  brought 


662  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

about  by  the  principal.  He  alone  can  see  the  problem 
from  all  sides;  he  alone  is  free,  or  ought  to  be,  from  pre- 
dilection for  one  activity  or  interest;  he  should  see  his 
boys  and  girls  as  developing  beings  with  whole,  undi- 
vided lives;  he  is  in  a  position  not  only  to  institute  plans, 
but  to  see  that  they  are  carried  out  and  to  judge  of  the 
results.  Wherever  any  measure  of  success  in  co-opera- 
tion has  been  secured,  the  principal  has  been  the  chief 
guiding  force. 

SUCCESSFUL   PLANS 

This  brings  us  to  the  point  where  we  can  speak  briefly 
of  a  few  successful  plans.  Most  notable,  perhaps,  is 
that  now  in  operation  in  the  Cicero  Township  High 
School  near  Chicago,  111.  This  is  a  school  in  an  indus- 
trial community.  The  parents  are  largely  of  foreign 
birth  and  not  well-to-do.  The  pupils  enter  high  school 
as  much  in  need  of  training  in  the  vernacular  as  any  that 
can  be  found.  What  Principal  Church  is  doing  here  will 
be  done  elsewhere — as  soon  as  the  importance  of  it  is 
realized. 

Mr.  Church  recognized  at  the  outset  the  economic 
aspect  of  the  problem  and  began  reform  by  inducing 
his  board  to  supply  him  with  additional  teachers.  He 
has  thus  reduced  the  number  of  pupils  assigned  to  a 
teacher  of  English  to  sixty.  These  teachers  are  on  duty 
in  their  classrooms  throughout  the  school  day  and  after- 
ward, to  deal  with  individuals  and  to  discuss  their  oral 
and  written  work  with  them.  The  next  step  was  to 
secure  unanimity  of  effort  in  certain  specific  matters. 
This  was  attained  by  having  the  English  teachers  pre- 
pare a  brief  statement  as  to  what  other  teachers  might 
do  to  enforce  the  instruction  they  were  giving;  as,  for 


THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH  663 

example,  the  correcting  of  grammatical  errors,  the  use, 
when  appropriate,  of  full  sentences,  etc.  Eventually  it 
was  found  desirable  to  issue  a  monthly  bulletin  by  means 
of  which  each  teacher  might  know  what  instruction  in 
English  was  being  given  and  might  demand  that  it  be 
observed  in  his  recitations.  It  was  agreed  that  all  de- 
partments should  keep  a  separate  and  distinct  record 
of  the  quality  of  the  English  used  by  each  pupil  and 
that  the  average  of  such  marks  should  constitute  twenty- 
five  per  cent  of  the  composition  grade  given  to  the  pupil 
at  the  end  of  the  semester. 

The  effect  is  described  by  competent  observers  as 
wonderful.  The  entire  school  is  pervaded  by  an  at- 
mosphere of  good  English,  and  the  performance  of  the 
pupils,  coming  as  they  do  from  homes  of  little  culture, 
is  comparable  to  that  which  may  be  found  in  the  small 
high-grade  private  school. 

Another  typical  example  of  successful  co-operation  is 
to  be  found  in  the  Boston  High  School  of  Commerce. 
The  principal,  Mr.  O.  C.  Gallagher,  describes  the  plan  as 
follows  I1 

To  keep  the  pupils  on  the  watch  -for  accurate,  effective,  and 
smooth  composition  in  all  their  work,  they  were  informed  that  at 
frequent,  though  unstated,  intervals  their  papers  in  other  sub- 
jects would  be  corrected  by  their  English  teachers  to  ascertain 
their  observance  of  the  principles  taught  in  the  English  classes. 
The  marks  thus  obtained  are  entered  upon  the  regular  compo- 
sition work,  and  unsatisfactory  papers  are  revised  or  rewritten 
— the  same  as  unsatisfactory  themes.  In  addition,  teachers  of 
other  subjects  are  urged  to  send  batches  of  papers  whenever 
pupils  seem  to  be  growing  careless — a  condition  that  often  pre- 

1  See  Leaflet  No.  67,  New  England  Association  of  Teachers  of  English, 
Secretary,  F.  W.  C.  Hersey,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


664  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

vails  immediately  after  the  correction  of  sets  of  papers  in  sub- 
jects other  than  English. 

The  teacher  of  the  other  subject  demands  that  the  work  be 
clear  and  substantially  correct  in  spelling,  punctuation,  and  sen- 
tence structure.  Failing  to  secure  the  first,  he  lowers  the  pupil's 
mark  and.  at  his  option,  demands  revision:  failing  to  secure  the 
second,  he  withholds  all  credit  until  the  work  is  presented  in  a 
satisfactory  form.  The  teacher  of  English  insists  that  every 
piece  of  writing  shall  be  regarded  as  an  English  theme  to  be  cor- 
rected, revised,  and  rewritten  and  to  count  in  the  making  up  of 
the  mark  in  English.  The  collection  of  papers  at  unexpected 
moments  convinces  most  pupils  of  the  unwisdom  of  taking 
chances,  for.  even  if  the  English  teacher  fails  to  collect  a  set,  the 
teacher  of  the  other  subject  is  likely  to  send  him  any  piece  of 
slipshod  work. 

Again,  a  conscientious  attempt  is  made  to  teach  pupils  how  to 
answer  questions  in  other  subjects.  We  correlate  the  English 
work  in  the  first  year  with  history;  in  the  second  with  commer- 
cial geography,  in  the  third  with  local  industries  and  civil  govern- 
ment; in  the  fourth  with  business  law  and  economics.  By  draw- 
ing upon  these  branches  for  occasional  subjects,  and  correcting 
the  themes  orally  for  sentence  structure,  unity,  mass,  and  co- 
herence, we  try  to  train  the  pupils  to  bear  in  mind  the  principles 
of  English  while  their  attention  is  focussed  upon  another  subject. 
Similarly,  in  connection  with  science,  descriptions  of  apparatus 
and  expositions  of  experiments  are  required,  and  the  teacher  of 
science  is  consulted  as  to  the  adequacy  of  the  productions  from 
a  technical  standpoint.  With  foreign  languages  the  English 
department  has  found  most  need  for  co-operation  in  drill  upon 
points  of  grammar  as  they  are  taken  up  in  German  and  in  French. 

Besides  "corrective"  co-operation,  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
'"preventive  or  anticipating"  co-operation,  which  is  quite  as 
important  as  the  other.  Since  most  teachers  are  interested  in 
English  as  a  means  rather  than  as  an  end,  the  use  of  English 
must  be  made  effective  in  recitation  as  well  as  in  writing.  Sev- 
eral subjects  taken  up  in  the  first  year  of  a  secondary  school  lend 
themselves  readily  to  such  drill,  especially  history  and  elementary 
science.  After  consultation  between  the  teacher  of  English  and 
the  teacher  of  history,  the  history  text-book  may  be  taken  up 
in  the  English  class  and  the  pupil  taught  how  to  make  his  En- 


THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH  665 

glish  do  the  work  that  the  author  tried  to  have  his  do.  What 
has  the  author  aimed  at?  Did  he  hit  it?  Why?  How?  This 
brings  the  pupil  to  the  outline;  he  must  get  his  sights  in  line. 
Then  the  discharge — oral  delivery.  The  class  watch  as  mark- 
ers, criticise  the  sighting,  aiming,  line  of  flight,  and  the  hit.  The 
aim  is  thus  upon  the  English  essentials  of  unity  and  coherence, 
in  whole  composition,  paragraphs,  and  sentences. 

The  result  is  easier  work  for  the  teacher  of  history,  for  the 
teacher  of  English,  and  for  the  pupils,  since  the  work  in  the  En- 
glish class  is  "a  practical  job."  The  pupils  can  measure  the 
success  of  their  effort  in  one  class  by  their  achievement  in  the 
other. 

Various  Plans  of  Co-operation. — Reports  from  several 
other  schools  embody  some  of  these  ideas  and  suggest  a 
number  in  addition.  One  of  the  most  striking  is  that  of 
keeping  pupils  on  probation  in  English  throughout  the 
course.  Delinquents  who  have  been  warned  and  who 
fail  to  improve  are  remanded  to  the  English  department 
for  such  further  training  as  seems  necessary.  This  may 
result  in  the  establishing  of  a  sort  of  hospital  squad. 
Naturally,  pupils  wish  to  get  out  of  the  hospital  as  soon 
as  they  can.  Sometimes  it  is  desirable  to  require  those 
who  persist  in  making  mistakes  in  externals,  such  as 
spelling,  to  take  a  course  in  typewriting.  This  is  a  very 
effective  remedy.  Again,  certain  teachers  or  departments 
find  it  possible  to  employ  the  same  subject-matter  for 
parts  of  their  courses.  Science  note-books  are  made 
the  basis  of  studies  in  sentence  structure  in  the  English 
class,  pupils  engaged  in  shop  work  are  taught  how  to 
organize  notes  on  their  projects  in  the  form  of  analytical 
outlines,  etc.  The  outside  reading  of  the  pupils  is  some- 
times directed  to  lists  of  books  which  have  been  made  up 
by  all  departments  in  conference,  and  care  is  exercised 
that  only  a  reasonable  amount  of  collateral  reading  shall 


666  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

be  required  of  any  pupil.  Or,  again,  the  amount  and 
distribution  of  written  work  is  determined  and  the  form 
of  note-books  agreed  upon.  Of  great  importance  is  the 
compiling  of  a  standard  guide  to  the  preparation  and 
correction  of  manuscripts,  which  should  reflect  the  prac- 
tice of  good  publishers  and  which  should  be  in  the  hands 
of  all  teachers  and  pupils  and  be  consistently  adhered 
to.  It  goes  without  saying  that  teachers  of  foreign 
languages  should,  without  fail,  insist  upon  correct  En- 
glish idiom  in  translation. 

Methods  of  Grading. — Various  attempts  have  been 
made  to  work  out  a  practicable  method  of  grading  so 
that  due  account  may  be  taken  of  the  value  of  substance 
on  the  one  hand  and  externals  of  form  on  the  other. 
Some  years  ago  Mr.  G.  H.  Browne,  head  master  of  a 
preparatory  school  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  established  in 
his  institution  the  custom  of  dual  marking  by  means  of  a 
"numerator"  and  a  ''denominator."  The  mark  above 
the  line  was  to  stand  for  substance  in  all  papers,  including 
those  for  the  English  teacher,  while  the  mark  below  the 
line  was  to  indicate  excellence  in  "mother  tongue,"  that 
is,  spelling,  etc.  Marks  of  the  latter  sort  were  sent  in  by 
all  teachers,  averaged,  and  reported  to  the  parents.  The 
effect  is  said  to  have  been  immediate  and  gratifying. 
Recently  the  practice  of  holding  occasional  conferences 
at  which  a  few  papers  are  examined,  corrected,  and 
graded  by  members  from  all  departments  has  been  grow- 
ing in  favor.  The  participation  in  this  work  of  teachers 
from  the  grammar  grades  is  of  great  value.  Marking 
has  been  further  systematized  in  a  few  cases  by  the 
working  out  of  some  sort  of  scale  after  the  general  plan 
of  that  invented  by  Professors  Thorndike  and  Hillegas. 
These  conferences  are  necessary,  and  may  be  made  the 


THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH  667 

means  of  unifying  and  co-ordinating  the  activities  of  the 
different  departments  of  a  school  to  a  remarkable  degree. 

To  summarize,  co-operation  in  English  composition, 
to  be  successful,  must  be  organized  and  administered  by 
the  head  of  the  school  for  the  good  of  all.  This  will  in- 
volve the  setting  up  of  common  aims  and  the  establish- 
ment of  suitable  working  conditions.  Instruction  in  the 
technic  of  speaking  and  writing  should  be  regarded  as 
the  work  of  the  teacher  of  English.  Teachers  of  other 
subjects  should  refuse  to  accept  oral  reports  or  written 
papers  which  are  below  the  standards  agreed  upon.  If 
the  delinquent  student  fails  to  repair  his  deficiency,  he 
should  be  reported  to  the  principal  and  sent  to  the 
English  department  for  further  training.  In  matters  of 
substance,  particularly  clearness  and  completeness,  the 
teacher  of  each  subject  should  point  out  the  weakness, 
cause  it  to  be  removed,  and  apportion  credit  to  the  paper 
in  accordance  with  the  degree  of  success  attained.  By 
means  of  class  visitation  and  conference,  teachers  of 
English  and  teachers  of  other  subjects  should  seek  to 
combine  their  efforts  so  as  to  accomplish  the  most  effec- 
tive training  of  the  student  in  the  arts  of  study  and  of 
expression  with  the  greatest  economy  of  his  time  and 
the  most  consistent  unifying  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

THE  HYGIENE  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

MEDICAL   SUPERVISION,    SCHOOL   SANITATION,   HYGIENE 
OF   INSTRUCTION 

Louis  W.  Rapeer,  Ph.D. 

DEPARTMENT    OF    PSYCHOLOGY    AND    EDUCATION,    NEW    YORK    TRAINING 
SCHOOL   FOR   TEACHERS 

Medical  Sociology. — The  principal  problems  of  life  set 
the  problems  for  education,  and  one  of  the  serious  prob- 
lems of  individual  and  social  life  is  the  maintenance  of 
good  health.  How  serious  the  problem  is  for  individ- 
ual and  nation  probably  very  few  people  realize.  Low- 
ered vitality,  sickness,  physical  defects,  operations,  and 
death  are  common  enough,  but  the  traditions  of  the  an- 
cients are  still  too  much  with  us,  and  we  are  prone  to 
accept  anything  less  than  "life  more  abundant"  in  a 
fatalistic  manner,  as  the  Mohammedan  does  his  bad 
roads.  It  is  quite  time  that  our  people  begin  to  learn 
from  their  community  leaders,  our  prospective  high 
school  graduates,  that  it  is  just  as  possible  to  get  con- 
trol of  the  forces  of  nature  which  mould  human  life  as 
it  is  to  control,  through  breeding,  cultivation,  and  pro- 
tection, our  domestic  animals  and  plants,  and,  further- 
more, that  this  new  century  of  science  is  making  pos- 
sible, for  those  who  will  work  for  it,  a  finer  type  of 

668 


THE   HYGIENE   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL       669 

human  being  with  much  greater  natural  vigor,  an  aver- 
age term  of  life  much  longer  than  the  present,  and  an 
enormous  decrease  of  sickness,  physical  defects,  wasted 
expenditures,  and  premature  death. 

Eugenics. — The  fundamental  determinants  of  social 
progress  are  those  of  nature  and  nurture — controlling  the 
admissions  to  the  life  of  society  and  providing  adequate 
environmental  conditions  for  the  greatest  development 
of  the  membership  so  established.  The  world  has  made 
wonderful  progress  in  the  control  of  plant  and  animal 
life ;  our  power  over  animate  and  inanimate  nature  seems 
almost  deistic;  man  can  to-day  remodel  and  shape  the 
world  very  largely  as  he  likes;  but  over  himself,  the  high- 
est type  of  animal  life,  he  has  as  yet  gained  little  positive 
control.  The  world  is  filled  with  the  unfit  of  all  descrip- 
tions— feeble-minded,  idiots,  mentally  backward,  insane, 
antisocial  and  criminal,  deaf,  blind,  and  mute,  natural 
paupers,  physical  defectives,  and  the  great  host  of  hered- 
itary deviates  below  a  normal  humanity  who  have  been 
denied  the  first  great  right  of  the  individual  to  be  well 
born.  As  the  great  evolutionist,  Wallace,  points  out 
in  his  recent  volume,  a  very  large  proportion  of  these 
"undesirable  citizens"  are  not  so  much  the  results  of 
heredity  as  of  our  extremely  defective  social  environ- 
ment: 

"  Taking  account  of  these  various  groups  of  un- 
doubted facts,  many  of  which  are  so  gross,  so  terrible, 
that  they  cannot  be  overstated,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  our  whole  system  of  society  is  rotten  from  top 
to  bottom,  and  the  social  environment  as  a  whole,  in 
relation  to  our  possibilities  and  our  claims,  is  the  worst 
that  the  world  has  ever  seen."  * 

lU  Social  Environment  and  Moral  Progress,"  p.  169. 


670  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

He  urges  that  "Nature — or  the  Universal  Mind — has 
not  failed  or  bungled  our  world  so  completely  as  to  re- 
quire the  weak  and  ignorant  efforts  of  the  eugenists  to 
set  it  right,  while  leaving  the  great  fundamental  causes 
of  all  existing  social  evils  absolutely  untouched.  Let 
them  devote  their  energies  to  purifying  this  whitened 
sepulchre  of  destitution  and  ignorance  and  the  benefi- 
cent laws  of  human  nature  will  themselves  bring  about 
the  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  advancement  of  our 
race."  Social  reform,  he  says,  will  be  followed  by  ade- 
quate and  natural  feminine  selection  of  the  fittest. 

Doctor  Davenport  of  this  country,  on  the  other  hand, 
strongly  emphasizes  the  hereditary  factor  and  shows  in 
his  book  on  "Heredity  in  Relation  to  Eugenics"  and  the 
various  bulletins  of  the  Eugenics  Record  Office,  Cold 
Spring  Harbor,  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  that  a  large  share  of 
the  mental  and  physical  defectiveness  of  human  beings 
is  primarily  due  to  the  inheritance  of  traits  which  have 
been  passed  down  through  families  from  primitive,  pre- 
human defectives.  The  genealogy  of  the  Jukes  and  the 
Ishmaelites  on  the  one  side  and  of  the  Edwards  and 
Bankers  on  the  other,  as  well  as  of  a  growing  multitude 
of  other  families,  reveal  distinctly  the  hereditary  factors 
in  national  degeneracy  and  national  greatness.  Daven- 
port names  forty-one  different  classes  of  traits  which  are 
demonstrably  inheritable,  and  the  number  is  constantly 
growing.  The  two  points  of  view  are  differences  of 
emphasis  on  what  are  the  first  steps  in  social  progress. 
Both  are  sound  when  taken  together. 

We  hardly  need  the  exact  methods  of  science  to  dem- 
onstrate the  inheritability  of  most  of  the  characteris- 
tics of  human  beings.  The  common  expressions,  "the 
image  of  his  father,"  mother,  great-grandparent,  "takes 


THE   HYGIENE   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL       671 

after  his"  specific  ancestors,  "gets  that  from"  his 
mother,  father,  etc.,  and  the  many  folk  traditions  about 
marrying  cousins,  and  the  like,  demonstrate  a  more  or 
less  vague  understanding  of  the  forces  of  heredity  in 
human  beings,  working  as  they  do  before  the  eyes  and 
under  the  guidance  of  every  farmer  and  stock-breeder. 
And,  furthermore,  the  many  State  legislatures  that  are 
rapidly,  and  with  relatively  little  or  very  inadequate 
investigation,  placing  various  eugenic  laws  on  the  statute 
books,  such  as  medical  regulation  of  marriage  and  the 
segregation  and  the  sterilization  of  certain  types  of  the 
unfit,  indicate  that  we  have  already  begun  a  vigorous 
movement  for  the  improvement  of  the  inborn  qualities 
of  humanity.  Blanket  laws  such  as  the  prohibition  of 
marriage  between  first  cousins,  of  a  mental  defective  to  a 
normal  person,  and  the  like,  will  be  modified;  investiga- 
tions of  heredity  in  the  State  and  nation  will  be  made; 
and  accurate  genealogical  census  records,  eugenic  special- 
ists for  expert  guidance,  and  the  education  of  the  youth 
in  the  biological  and  social  principles  and  importance  of 
proper  matings  will  all  soon  come  about. 

Heredity  and  the  High  Schools. — Because  they  can- 
not exercise  eugenic  control  over  their  membership,  the 
pupils,  but  must  take  them  as  they  come,  with  their 
infinite  variety  from  top  to  bottom  in  many  traits,  the 
educators  and  public  school  lawmakers  have  in  the  past 
vastly  overemphasized  the  factor  of  environment  and  of 
schooling,  following  the  lead,  to  some  extent,  of  Ward, 
Odin,  and  Wallace.  They  will,  in  the  future,  give  wiser 
emphasis  to  the  factor  of  heredity.  The  truth  for  the 
schools  lies  in  the  emphasis  of  both  factors — in  education 
along  the  lines  of  the  improvement  of  the  racial  stock  by 
scientific  and  reasonable  control  of  parentage  and  by 


672  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

a  vastly  extended  improvement  of  the  conditions  and 
means  of  living  and  development  for  all  people. 

The  schools  have  their  naturally  bright,  medium, 
dull,  and  mentally  defective  children.  They  have  their 
physical  longs  and  shorts  of  a  thousand  different  types. 
They  have  retardation,  elimination,  non-promotion, 
incorrigibility,  motor-minded,  abstract-minded,  social 
and  non-  or  anti-social  pupils,  inheritedly  predisposed 
toward  a  multitude  of  weaknesses  and  diseases  which 
may  easily  lead  to  elimination,  backwardness,  failure, 
or  death  by  the  slightest  encouragement  of  bad  envi- 
ronmental conditions.  With  greater  eugenic  control 
by  society,  with  ampler  physical  and  psychological  tests 
and  standards,  with  a  knowledge  of  each  pupil's  here- 
ditary predispositions,  surely  we  have  for  the  schools 
an  instrument  of  incalculable  value  in  promoting  in- 
dividuality and  genuine  socialization  of  our  prospective 
citizens. 

What  we  can  do  in  the  high  schools  will  depend 
largely  upon  our  knowledge  of  the  scientific  conditions, 
both  biological  and  sociological,  of  human  progress. 
Practically,  we  must  have  teachers  who  know  the  hered- 
itary and  acquired  natures  of  our  adolescent  youth  and 
who  have  also  a  broad  understanding  of  the  sociological 
forces  of  the  school  community  and  modern  complex 
society.  In  the  biology,  civic,  social  economy,  hygiene, 
and  industrial  courses  real  teaching  for  social  efficiency 
will  emphasize  among  others  these  great  hereditary  and 
sociological  factors:  the  importance  of  the  choice  of  suit- 
able and  hereditarily  complementary  mates  in  marriage, 
the  varying  original  individualities  of  people,  the  impor- 
tance of  avoiding  environmental  conditions  in  the  way 
of  occupations,  indoor  or  outdoor  life,  associates,  certain 


THE   HYGIENE   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL       673 

types  of  excesses,  etc.,  which  will  tend  to  bring  out  and 
encourage  hereditary  weaknesses,  and,  vice  versa,  the 
choice  of  studies  best  suited  to  original  nature,  not  only 
vocational  but  all-round  life  guidance  in  the  light  of  this 
growing  science,  the  organization  and  the  methods  which 
will  cultivate  and  foster  those  common  and  uncommon 
traits  desirable  in  modern  life — all  these  and  many  more 
adjustments,  adequate  knowledge  of  eugenics  and  hered- 
ity in  their  co-operation  with  environment  will  develop 
in  the  high  school  of  the  future.  The  coming  social  and 
pragmatic  high  school  in  place  of  the  old  socially  isolated 
and  academic  institution  will  in  the  future  send  out  such 
leaders  as  will  contribute  materially,  in  a  few  generations, 
to  improve  the  stock  that  now  twenty  millions  strong 
fills  our  public  schools.  As  yet  we  have  little  more  than 
the  problem  and  the  first  tentative  and  halting  steps  in 
the  right  direction. 

Educational  Hygiene. — When  we  come  to  the  environ- 
mental control  we  are,  however,  on  surer  ground.  Con- 
scious human  evolution  has  so  far  contented  itself  with 
controlling  the  conditions  of  environment  surrounding 
individuals  after  they  have  entered  the  world  fully 
equipped  with  their  original  nature  made  up  of  millions 
of  separate  inheritable  traits.  We  have  great  and  sur- 
prising success  in  controlling  the  death-rate,  the  amount 
of  morbidity,  the  length  of  human  life,  the  intelligence, 
the  social  responsiveness,  and  the  ability  and  power  of 
individuals  and  nations.  We  have  before  us  here  the 
single  problem  of  what  the  high  school  can  do  to  promote 
the  health  of  the  nation — the  problem  of  educational  hy- 
giene in  secondary  schools. 

The  Administration  of  Educational  Hygiene. — The 
science  of  educational  hygiene  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  but 


674  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

it  can  point  to  five  fairly  definite  and  standard  divisions 
— namely : 

i.  Medical  Supervision. 

2.  School  Sanitation. 

3.  Physical  Education. 

4.  Teaching  Hygiene. 

5.  Hygienic  Teaching. 

The  manifold  functions  of  these  divisions  are  graphi- 
cally represented  by  the  following  chart  which  names 
many  of  the  various  functions  and  covers  also  the  work 
of  the  elementary  schools. 

This  new  science,  with  these  various  divisions,  is  being 
developed  in  response  to  serious  national  and  school 
health  needs  and  problems.  About  two  per  cent  of  our 
entire  population  die  off  each  year,  about  half  of  which 
loss  is  preventable  and  postponable.  There  are  all  the 
time  between  three  and  four  millions  of  our  population 
seriously  ill  and  losing  wages  and  causing  enormous 
sickness-care  losses  to  private  and  public  agencies.  Be- 
sides these  there  is  an  extremely  large  amount  of  pre- 
ventable minor  ailments  and  defects  which  greatly  lower 
vital  and  working  efficiency  and  happiness.  In  another 
volume  the  writer  has  estimated  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant of  these  school  and  national  losses  and  their 
reasonable  preventability  by  the  adoption  of  present- 
known  scientific  instrumentalities  and  precautions.1 

Three  other  writers  of  chapters  in  this  series,  Doctors 
Berry  and  Warthin  in  uHigh  School  Education,"  and 
Doctor  Naismith  in  this  volume,  have  admirably  shown 
how  improved  teaching  of  hygiene  and  reorganized  phys- 
ical education  can  aid  in  the  promotion  of  health  and 
national  vitality.     We  have,  then,  in  this  chapter  the 

1 "  School  Health  Administration." 


THE  DIVISIONS  OF  EDUCATIONAL 
HYGIENE 

Supervisor  of  Hygiene 


MEDICAL 
SUPERVISION 


SCHOOL 
SANITATION 


PHYSICAL 
EDUCATION 


TEACHING 
HYGIENE 


HYGIENIC 
TEACHING 


INSPECTIONS 
AND        ANNUAL 
EXAMINATIONS 


DISCOVERING 
HEALTH 

NEEDS. 

CO-OPERATINO 
WITH      BOARDS 
OP    HEALTH 
AND     PRIVATE 
ORGANIZA- 
TIONS. 


LIMITING 
DOCTORS    TO 
EXAMINA- 
TIONS. 

SUPERVISION 
OF    NURSES 
AND    WORK 
IN    CLINICS. 

PSYCHOLO- 
GISTS. 
OCULISTS. 
SURGEONS, 
DENTISTS, 
PHYSICIANS. 

SUPERVISION 
OF    SCHOOL 
FEEDING. 

SCIENTIFIC 
STUDIES    OF 
PREVENTION 
AND     CAUSE 
OF.  DISEASE. 

CAREFUL 

RECORDS 

EMPHASIZING 

SERIOUS 

AILMENTS 

FOUND    AND 

CURED. 

TRAINING 
SCHOOL 
NURSES    FOR 
ALL    INSPEC- 
TION   AND 
LXAMINATION. 
NURSES    AS 
ATTENDANCE 
OFFICERS. 


SCHOOL     SITES 
AND    ARCHI- 
TECTURE. 

VENTILATION. 


DRINKING 
WATER    AND 
FOUNTAINS. 


HYGIENIC 

TOILET 

FACILITIES. 


DECORATION. 

THE  STAND- 
ARD SCHOOL 
ROOM. 

FIRE-PROOF 
CONSTRUC- 
TION. 

HEALTH.  REST. 
AND     EMER- 
GENCY    ROOMS. 

PLAYROOMS 
AND    ROOF 
PLAYGROUNDS. 


DRYING    AND 

WARMING 

SEATS. 

TNVESTIGA- 
TION'S  OF  RE- 
CIRCULATION, 
HUMIDITY, 
AIR-CLEAN- 
ING, DISIN- 
FECTION, ETC. 


PHYSICAL 
TRAINING 
AND  GYM- 
NASTICS. 


POSTURE  AND 
CORRECTIONAL 
EXERCISES. 

ASSISTING 
IN    MEDICAL 
SUPERVISION. 

RECREATION. 

SCHOOL 

EXCURSIONS 
AND     TRAMPS. 

BOY    SCOUTS 
AND    CAMP 
FIRE    GIRLS. 

GYMNASIUMS 
AND    ATHLETIC 
FIELDS. 


POOLS.     SHOW- 
ERS   AND 
BEACHES. 


PHYSICAL 
EDUCATORS 
WITH   MEDICAL 
KNOWLEDGE. 


PAY   FOR 
SUPERVISING 
PLAY  AFTER 
SCHOOL    AND 
SATURDAYS. 

CULTIVATING 
THE    GREEK 
IDEAL    OF      *- 
PHYSICAL 
AND     MENTAL 
PERFECTION. 


HEALTH     EDU- 
CATION   OF 
TEACHERS. 

ADVISING 
CHOICE     OF 
BEST    HYGIENE 
TEXTS    AND 
TOPICS. 

FORMING 
PERSONAL 
HYGIENE 
HABITS. 

PUBLIC 
HYGIENE 
STUDY    AND 
CO-OPERATION. 

HEALTH   EDU- 
CATION   OF 
PARENTS. 

FEEDING. 
CLOTHING 
AND     SLEEP 
OF     CHILDREN. 

HOME  HYGIENE 
IN    DOMESTIC 
SCIENCE. 

VOCATIONAL 
HYGIENE  IN 
INDUSTRIAL 
SUBJECTS. 

TALKS    BY 
DOCTORS. 
NURSES    AND 
SPECIALISTS. 
FIRST    AID. 
SEX    HYGIENE 

STUDYING 
COMMUNITY 
HEALTH 
PROBLEMS 
AND     METHODS 
OF    IMPROVE- 
MENT. 

DAILY    ORAL 
QUESTION- 
NAIRE  ON 
HOME 
HYGIENE: 
USE    OF 
TOOTH-BRUSH, 
COFFEE 
DRINKING, 
VENTILATION, 
ETC. 
HEALTH 
KNOWLEDGE, 
HEALTH 
IDEALS, 
HEALTH 
EFFICIENCY. 


"THE    HYGIENE 
OF    INSTRUCT 
TION." 

FATIGUE, 
OVER-WORK 
AND    UNDER- 
WORK. 


THE     HYGIENE 
OF    SCHOOL 
SUBJECTS. 


INTER-RECI- 
TATION RE- 
CREATION. 

TRANSFORM- 
ING    NEURAS- 
THENIC   AND 
"CRANKY" 
TEACHERS. 

MOTOR 
ASPECTS    OP 
TEACHING. 


THE    HYGIENE 
OF    JOY    IN 
SCHOOLS. 

PREVENTING 
PHYSICAL 
DEFECTS     AND 
PATHOLOGICAL 
CONDITIONS. 


INFLUENCE 
OF    VACA- 
TIONS  AND 
HOLIDAYS. 


HYGIENIC 
EFFECTS    OP 
DIFFERENT 
METHODS. 

THE     TEACHER 
AS    MEDICAL 
GUARDIAN. 


675 


676  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

three  remaining  divisions  of  the  subject:  Medical  Super- 
vision, School  Sanitation,  and  Hygienic  Teaching.  To 
show  more  definitely  a  phase  of  the  health  problem  which 
the  high  school  must  help  the  nation  to  solve,  we  present 
the  following  table  on  the  number  of  preventable  deaths 
each  year  among  children  of  high  school  age.  The  ra- 
tios of  preventability  for  the  twenty-five  causes  of  death 
given  are  those  constructed  by  Professor  Irving  Fisher, 
with  the  help  of  thirty  leading  medical,  sanitary,  and 
insurance  experts,  and  are  printed  in  the  author's  book 
on  national  vitality.  A  careful  study  of  these  prevent- 
ability estimates  will  convince  most  candid  persons  that 
they  are  conservative  and  scientific  figures  and  that  they 
make  no  effort  to  state  what  the  preventability  will  be 
with  the  rapidly  increasing  knowledge  of  health  improve- 
ment. The  deaths  of  pupils  during  the  high  school  years 
by  no  means  measure  the  number  that  may  reasonably 
have  been  prevented  by  a  more  genuine  high  school  edu- 
cation. The  number  of  persons  dying  in  the  five  and  ten 
year  periods  immediately  following  the  high  school  age 
is  much  greater  and  increasing.  Besides  the  inherited 
weaknesses  and  predispositions  of  heredity  as  causes, 
a  very  large  proportion  is  plainly  due  to  disgraceful 
health  ignorance,  to  lack  of  adequate  health  knowledge, 
of  health  ideals,  of  health  habits,  and  of  splendid  bodily 
resistance  to  ever-assailing  disease  bacilli — all  of  which 
it  is  so  largely  the  province  of  the  public  schools  to  de- 
velop in  our  citizenship.  The  high  school  cannot  reach 
all  youth  of  this  age,  of  course,  but  it  does  have  the  op- 
portunity of  sending  out  most  of  the  leaders  in  every 
community,  who  function  largely  in  making  public  health 
agencies  and  private  health  standards  what  they  are. 
Here  is  the  table: 


THE   HYGIENE   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL       677 


Estimated  Preventability  of  Deaths  of  Children  of  High  School 
Age,  Fifteen-Nineteen,  Inclusive,  for  the  Twenty-Five  Most 
Numerous  Causes  of  Death  in  1910 


Causes  of  Deaths 


.  Pulmonary  tuberculosis . . 

.  Accidents 

.  Typhoid 

.  Heart  disease,  organic 

.  Pneumonia 

.  Tuberculosis,  other  parts . 

.  Appendicitis 

.  Bright's  disease 

.  Suicide 

.  Meningitis 

.  Rheumatism,  articular. .  . 

.  Diabetes 

.  Scarlet  fever 

.  Diphtheria  and  croup.  .  .  . 

,  Nephritis,  acute 

.  Endocarditis  (heart) 

.  Epilepsy 

.  Peritonitis 

.  Broncho-pneumonia 

.  Cancer  and  other  tumors . 

.  Spinal  cord,  other  diseases 

,  Influenza,  grippe 

,  Intestinal  obstruction. .  .  . 

.  Measles 

.  Apoplexy,  cerebr.  hem. .  . 

Totals 


No.  Deaths 
in  Regis- 
tration 
Area 


5,166 

2,525 

I,68l 

1,158 

1,140 

933 

754 

440 

326 

294 

261 

258 

232 

228 

199 
196 
172 
162 
158 
152 
130 
119 
117 
112 
103 


17,016^ 


Per 

Cent 

Prevent 

able 


75 

? 

85 
25 
45 
75 
50 
40 
? 

70 
10 
10 
50 
70 
30 


55 

50 


5° 
25 
40 

35 


42 1 


Total  No. 
Deaths 
in  All 
States 


8,650 

4,230 

2,830 

1,940 

1,920 

1,570 

1,270 

740 

550 

500 

450 

450 

400 

400 

340 

340 

300 

280 

280 

260 

220 

200 

200 

190 

180 


28,690 


No.  Deaths 
Prevent- 
able 


6,487 
? 

2,405 
485 
864 

1,177 
635 
296 
? 

350 
45 
45 
200 
2S0 
102 

85 
o 

154 
140 


50 
76 

63 


14,039 


*86%  of  total  for  this  age  period.  1 67%  Fisher's  average. 

Total  number  of  deaths,  15-19,  in  registration  area,  19,772 — all  causes. 

Total  number  of  deaths,  15-19,  in  the  United  States,  about  34,000 — all 
causes. 

Total  number  of  deaths,  15-19,  preventable,  about  24,000 — all  causes. 

Based  on  1910  United  States  mortality  statistics  and  Fisher's  pre- 
ventability tables  in  his  "National  Vitality." 

Accidents  are  very  largely  preventable,  probably  75  per  cent. 


678  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

These  statistics  of  death  taken  from  the  United  States 
mortality  statistics  for  1910  are,  in  the  light  of  their  pre- 
ventability,  appalling;  and  demonstrate,  as  can  nothing 
else,  the  need  of  our  high  schools  treating  our  youth,  not 
as  disembodied  mentalities  to  be  sharpened  by  mediaeval 
instruments  into  some  theoretical  and  hypothetical  form, 
but  as  actual  human  beings  in  the  actual  complex  situ- 
ations of  the  present. 

Death  is,  however,  only  a  partial  measure  of  the  prob- 
lem. There  are  also  a  large  amount  of  illness  and  a 
great  number  of  physical  defects,  largely  curable  or  pre- 
ventable, which  we  cannot  take  space  here  to  describe. 
Sufficient  to  say  that  no  public  high  school  of  America  is 
at  present  adequately  meeting  the  health  problem,  and 
that  a  very  large  number  are  in  many  ways  actually 
manufacturing  defects,  bringing  out  latent  inherited  de- 
fective and  disease  tendencies,  and  failing  to  provide 
that  all-round,  generous  health-and- vitality  education 
which  would  help  us  not  only  to  match  the  old-time 
Grecian  education  but  go  far  beyond  it  into  that  scien- 
tific health-and-development  education  demanded  by  the 
times. 

Medical  Supervision. — In  another  place  the  writer 
has  worked  out  a  plan  for  the  administration  of  educa- 
tional hygiene.  Therein  we  have  shown  that  the  weak- 
ness of  the  health-and-development  work  of  schools 
has  been  its  separateness,  the  isolation  of  its  parts,  and 
the  poor  educational  and  professional  equipment  of  its 
directors,  including  school  superintendents.  All  these 
heterogeneous  health  agencies,  so  recently  pushed  or 
pulled  into  the  schools  by  various  agencies  and  for  vari- 
ous purposes,  should  be  and  are  being  integrated  in  one 
department  of  hygiene  for  each  school  system  under  the 


THE   HYGIENE   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL       679 

direction  of  a  supervisor  of  hygiene  who  is  both  a  physi- 
cian and  a  physical  educator  versed  and  experienced  in 
medical  sociology,  pediatrics,  and  educational  hygiene. 
With  him  will  be  associated  a  school  nurse  for  each  fifteen 
hundred  to  two  thousand  pupils  in  a  school  system  and 
a  part-time  physician,  in  the  beginning  at  least,  for  each 
three  thousand  pupils,  counting  the  supervisor  of  hygiene 
as  one  physician.  A  city  of  twelve  thousand  pupils 
would,  then,  begin  with  a  hygiene  supervisor,  three  assis- 
tant, part-time  physicians  (two  hours  a  day  at  least),  and 
six  or  more  nurses.  Additions  and  changes  can  be  made 
by  supervisor  and  superintendent  of  schools  after  in- 
vestigation and  intelligent  study  of  conditions.  To  these, 
of  course,  must  be  added  all-round  school  clinics  with 
skilled  attendants. 

Duties  of  Physicians  and  Nurses. — The  typical  high 
school  of  the  country  being  one  with  less  than  four 
teachers,  and  the  high  school  enrolment  being  only  about 
one  twentieth  that  of  the  elementary  schools,  with  the 
further  conditions  that  the  number  of  defects  decreases 
somewhat  upward  through  the  schools  and  that  high 
school  pupils  are  of  such  a  social  class  and  with  such 
ability  for  self-help  as  makes  medical  care  somewhat 
less  necessary  than  for  elementary  pupils  of  all  social 
classes  and  much  younger — all  these  factors  tend  to 
make  the  health  problem  of  the  high  school  only  a  small 
part  of  the  general  problem  of  medical  supervision  and 
hygiene,  and  tend  toward  a  lamentable  neglect  therein. 
If  the  gymnasium  teachers  were  what  they  should  be  in 
the  large  city  high  schools,  where  we  frequently  find  a 
woman  and  a  man  as  directors  of  physical  education  for 
girls  and  boys;  if  they  were  physicians  skilled  in  medical 
phases  of  adolescence,  with  the  occasional  assistance  of 


680  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  nurses  and  with  capable  teachers  of  hygiene,  there 
would  be  little  need  of  medical  supervision  of  high 
schools  from  the  outside.  Unfortunately,  very  few  such 
directors  of  physical  education  are  physicians,  and  even 
when  they  are  they  get  little  credit  for  it  or  opportunity 
to  use  their  medical  knowledge  in  the  service  of  the  high 
school.  Moreover,  such  directors  as  exist  who  are  also 
physicians  are  now  speedily  being  drawn  away  to  take 
the  newly  created  positions  of  supervisors  of  hygiene  in 
various  cities.  Consequently,  we  shall  have  to  plan,  for 
the  present,  to  get  along  with  teachers  who  are  only 
physical  educators  in  the  high  schools;  but  we  shall  de- 
mand of  them  that  they  increase  their  knowledge  of 
medical  and  physical  diagnosis  and  medical  gymnastics 
as  rapidly  as  possible,  through  summer  schools,  the  rap- 
idly developing  literature  on  the  subject,  and  through 
teaching  by  the  general  supervisor  of  hygiene. 

Public  opinion,  at  the  inception  of  medical  inspection 
for  adolescents,  demands  cautious  methods  and  the  exam- 
ination of  girls  by  women  and  boys  by  men,  although  in 
many  schools  both  sexes  are  being  medically  examined 
by  male  physicians.  Probably  the  best  solution  in  most 
cities  and  country  districts — say  a  township  or  county- 
will  be  for  the  supervisor  of  hygiene  to  take  charge  of 
medical  work  in  the  high  schools,  getting  the  assistance 
of  a  first-class  woman  physician  wherever  possible.  The 
nurses  will  make  such  inspections  of  pupils  as  is  neces- 
sary probably  without  very  many  room  inspections  of 
pupils  and  principally  those  referred  to  them  by  teachers 
and  physical-training  directors  if  any.  The  high  school 
physician  will  devote  himself  almost  entirely  to  the  ex- 
amination of  pupils.  Such  examinations  should  be  dis- 
tributed over  the  school  year,  perhaps,  in  order  that  the 


THE   HYGIENE   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL       681 

physician  may  visit  the  school  at  regular  intervals  and 
for  consultation  with  the  nurse.  The  nurse  will  also 
refer  all  perplexing  cases  to  the  physician  at  his  office 
for  confirmatory  inspection.  Where  there  are  two  to 
four  thousand  high  school  pupils  or  more  it  may  be  well 
for  one  or  two  physicians  to  devote  their  entire  time  to 
high  school  medical  examination  and  supervision.  The 
supervisor  should  devote  only  a  part  of  his  examining 
time  each  day  to  such  work,  since  it  is  necessary  for 
him  to  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  elementary-school 
problem.  Where  there  are  intermediate  schools  they 
should  be  treated  as  high  schools.  The  need  is  for  an- 
nual or  biennial  physical  examinations  of  all  pupils,  as 
many  inspections  as  prove  necessary,  and  adequate 
follow-up  work.  The  responsibility  for  cure  and  treat- 
ment of  ailments  should  be  placed  upon  the  shoulders 
of  the  pupils,  who  may  be  required  to  report  regularly 
on  what  they  have  done  for  their  health. 

The  Medical  Examination. — The  physician  will  visit 
the  high  school  at  regular  intervals  and  examine  thor- 
oughly with  the  assistance  of  the  nurse,  or  occasionally 
a  capable  student,  for  recording  and  for  making  vision 
tests.  Where  there  are  physical-training  directors  they 
should  lend  assistance  and  make  as  much  of  the  exam- 
inations as  their  training  permits.  Those  pupils  going 
into  athletics  should  be  examined  first  with  special  atten- 
tion to  heart  and  lung  defects,  then  should  come  the 
graduating  class  of  the  term,  and,  finally,  the  freshmen 
and  higher-class  students.  Each  pupil's  record  should 
be  placed  on  the  following,  or  similar,  cumulative  health- 
record  card  five  by  eight  inches  in  size.  The  nurse 
should  use  red  and  the  doctor  black  ink  for  the  record. 
These  record  cards  may  be  kept  in  the  principal's  office, 


682  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

gymnasium  office,  or,  rarely,  in  the  rooms  of  the  official 
or  class  teachers.  Whenever  the  student  is  suspected 
of  any  ailment  by  teacher,  principal,  physical-training 
teacher,  or  nurse  he  is  to  be  sent  to  the  health  room  for 
closer  inspection  by  the  nurse  or  for  inspection  or  com- 
plete examination  by  the  physician.  The  nurse  may 
visit  the  high  schools  each  day  for  referred  cases  and 
may  make  occasional  inspections  of  part  or  of  all  the 
pupils.  A  nurse  who  has  had  experience  in  inspecting 
upper-grade  elementary-school  pupils  will  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  handling  the  high  school  situation.  The  nurse 
will  make  weekly  reports  of  her  own  work  and  that  of 
the  physician  on  a  report  probably  similar  to  that  pub- 
lished by  the  writer  in  another  volume.1  The  records 
of  high  school  pupils  should  be  kept  separate  from  those 
of  elementary  pupils  in  the  central  office. 

The  principal  ailments  which  will  probably  be  found 
in  the  high  schools,  with  their  probable  frequency  given 
as  medians  for  the  number  of  ailments  to  be  found  in  any 
one  school  year  among  a  thousand  pupils,  cannot  ac- 
curately be  stated.  A  tentative,  working  classification, 
terminology,  and  frequency  table  for  elementary  schools 
is  here  presented.  High  schools  may  well  use  the  same 
classification. 

I.      NON-COMMUNICABLE    AlLMENTS 

A.      PHYSICAL    DEFECTS 

Probable  No.  Ailments 
per  1,000  El.  Pupils. 

i.  Adenoids,  nasal  obstruction,  etc 50 

2.  Anaemia 10 

3.  Deafness,  defective  hearing 5 

4.  Dental,  teeth 660 

'"School  Health  Administration." 


THE   HYGIENE   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL  683 

Probable  No.  Ailments 
per  1,000  El.  Pupils. 

5.  Enlarged  tonsils 60 

6.  Eyesight,  vision 70 

7.  Eyes  crossed,  strabismus,  squint 7 

8.  Glands  enlarged,  adenitis 10 

9.  Heart  defects 9 

10.  Lungs  very  weak,  not  tuberculosis 5 

11.  Malnutrition,  debility,  indigestion,  general  condition..  20 

12.  Mentality,  defects  of 10 

13.  Nervousness,  chorea,  habit  spasm,  nervous  exhaustion.  2 

14.  Palate  defects 7 

15.  Skeleton:  orthopedic  defects  (flat-foot,  club-foot,  etc.) .  .  2 

16.  Spine:  curvature,  posture,  round  shoulders,  etc 8 

17.  Speech:  stuttering,  stammering,  lisping,  etc 9 

B.       COMMON    AILMENTS 

18.  Abscess,  boils,  etc 5 

19.  Acute  sore  throat,  cough,  etc 2 

20.  Bronchitis 1 

21.  Cleanliness  needed 20 

22.  Catarrh,  rhinitis 10 

23.  Colds,  bad.     Coryza 3° 

24.  Ear  discharge,  otitis  media 15 

25.  Ears:  ear  wax  (impacted  cerumen),  foreign  bodies,  etc., 

minor 5 

26.  Eczema 7 

27.  Eyes:  "sore,"  blepharitis,  sties,  iritis,  etc.,  minor 20 

28.  Headache  (a  symptom),  migraine,  neuralgia 15 

29.  Laryngitis 5 

30.  Nose-bleed,  epistaxis 2 

31.  Pharyngitis,  chronic  sore  throat 3 

32.  Rheumatism 1 

33.  Sex  ailments  and  habits 10 

34.  Skin  ailments,  minor:  herpes,  seborrhea,  acne  (black- 

heads) ,  etc 15 

35.  Stomatitis,  mouth  ulcers,  "canker  sores" 1 

36.  Wounds,   sores,   sprains,   poison-ivy,   chilblains,   "first- 

aid,"  etc 150 

37.  Urinary  ailments:  incontinence  of  urine,  enuresis 2 


684  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 


II.     Communicable  Ailments 

A.      PARASITIC   AND   MINOR   INFECTIOUS   AILMENTS 

Probable  No.  Ailments 
per  1,000  El.  Pupils. 

38.  Conjunctivitis,  "pinkeye,"  etc 30 

39.  Favus,  yellow  scalp  sores 1 

40.  Impetigo  "contagioso,"  infectious  sores 20 

41.  Influenza,  grippe,  infectious  colds  of  a  serious  character.  1 

42.  Pediculosis,  head  lice  and  vermin 50 

43.  Ringworm,  body  and  scalp 4 

44.  Scabies,  itch 5 

45.  Tonsillitis,  quinsy 10 

B.      INFECTIOUS    DISEASES 

46.  Chicken-pox 6 

47.  Diphtheria 2 

48.  Measles 4 

49.  Mumps 4 

50.  Scarlet  fever 4 

51.  Trachoma,  "granulated  eyelids" 1 

52.  Tuberculosis  of  the  lungs,  "consumption" 1 

53.  Tuberculosis  of  the  bones  and  other  parts  of  the  body..  1 

54.  Whooping-cough,  pertussis 2 

Total 1 ,409 


THE   AILMENTS   OF   HIGH   SCHOOL  PUPILS 

We  give  below  the  average  number  of  ailments  found 
for  the  years  1911-12  and  191 2-13  by  medical  inspectors 
in  the  three  high  schools  of  Newark,  N.  J.  The  classi- 
fication and  figures  at  the  left  are  those  of  the  writer's 
tentative  standard  classification  of  school  ailments  in 
fifty-four  divisions;  the  figures  at  the  right  show  the 
probable  number  of  ailments  which  the  physicians  of 
Newark  will  find  in  any  one  year  among  each  thousand 
pupils  examined  compared  with  those  for  elementary- 


THE   HYGIENE   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL       685 


Average  Number  of  Physical  Defects  Found  Among  These  1,384 
Defective  Pupils,  with  Frequency  of  Ailments  Given  as 
Number  to  Be  Found  Among  1,000  High  and  Elementary 
School  Pupils 


I.     Physical  Defects 

1.  Adenoids,  nasal  obstruction,  etc 

3.  Deafness,  defective  hearing 

4.  Dental,  teeth 

5.  Enlarged  tonsils 

6.  Eyesight,  vision 

8.  Glands  enlarged,  adenitis 

9.  Heart  defects 

10.  Lungs  very  weak,  not  (?)  tuberculosis. . 

11.  Malnutrition,  debility 

12.  Mentality  defective 

13.  Nervousness,  chorea,  nervous  exhaus- 

tion, etc 

14.  Palate  defects 

15.  Skeleton:  orthopedic  defects,  chest.  . . . 

16.  Spine:  curvature,  posture,  round  shoul- 

ders, etc 

17.  Speech  defects 


Totals 

II.     Common  Ailments 
All  skin  ailments  are  given  together. 


FOUND 

HIGH 

IOI 

41 

I03 

41 

740 

340 

298 

I36 

555 

254 

17 

8 

102 

4i 

22 

10 

78 

36 

1 

1 

5 

3 

8 

4 

42 

19 

19 

8 

5 

3 

2,096 

945 

no 

43 

ELE- 
MENTARY 


50 

5 

660 

60 

77 
10 

9 

5  or  6 
20 
10 

2 

7 


934 


Examinations 

Average  number  of  pupils  examined 2,186 

Average  number  of  pupils  normal 802 


Average  number  of  pupils  with  defects. 
Average  for  pupils  defective,  about  2 


1,384  =63  per  cent. 


686  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

school  pupils.  Records  are  not  here  given  of  all  the  ail- 
ments suffered  by  these  pupils,  only  those  found  in  the 
schools.  Practically  all  the  pupils  of  the  high  schools 
were  examined  during  these  two  years  and  there  were 
an  average  of  1,627  inspected  for  infectious  ailments, 
mostly  pupils  referred  by  teachers. 

INSPECTIONS 

Aside  from  the  thorough-going  examinations,  an  aver- 
age of  1,627  inspections  of  pupils  were  made,  with  the 
result  that  an  average  of  12  pupils  were  excluded  each 
year.  The  many  common  and  serious  non-infectious 
ailments  are  not  given  in  the  report — only  causes  of  the 
twelve  exclusions,  averaging  about  one  each  for  the  fol- 
lowing infectious  ailments:  38,  eye  diseases;  41,  influenza; 
43,  ringworm;  44,  scabies;  45,  tonsillitis;  47,  diphtheria; 
48,  measles;  50,  scarlet  fever;  51,  trachoma,  fever,  and 
headache  combined,  not  vaccinated,  and  4  "others." 

ANALYSIS   OF   THE   TABLE 

We  see  according  to  these  figures  that  practically 
two  thirds  of  the  high  school  pupils  are  physically  de- 
fective without  counting  some  thirty  classes  of  ailments 
not  here  recorded.  This  happens  to  be  my  estimate 
derived  from  the  study  of  the  data  for  many  cities  as  to 
the  proportion  of  elementary  pupils  defective  for  all  (54 
classes)  ailments.  We  should  judge  from  this  that  high 
school  pupils  (of  Newark,  at  least)  are  even  more  de- 
fective than  the  average  run  of  elementary  pupils.  Our 
estimate  is  that  one  third  of  the  elementary  school 
children  will  be  found  in  any  one  school  year  to  be  free 
from  all  serious  ailments,  one  third  with  only  teeth  de- 


THE   HYGIENE   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL       687 

fects,  and  one  third  with  teeth  and  other  defects.  Here, 
in  Newark,  only  a  third  (340)  have  teeth  defects;  and 
the  total  number  of  ailments,  for  defects  at  least,  is  but 
642  to  our  estimate  of  943  for  elementary  pupils  among 
666  defectives  found  among  a  thousand  pupils. 

The  following  Newark  figures  for  the  high  school  ail- 
ments are  probably  unconscious  exaggerations  with  ref- 
erence to  cases  of  defective  hearing,  enlarged  tonsils, 
defective  vision,  heart,  and  orthopedic  defects.  The 
standard  for  defective  vision  is  set  at  20/30  instead  of 
20/40,  and  this  permits  the  recording  of  many  minor 
cases  of  defective  vision  that  are  not  serious  enough  to 
be  referred  for  glasses.  We  should  expect  more  pupils 
of  the  high  schools  to  need  glasses,  according  to  modern 
systems  of  schooling,  but  not  as  many  as  25  per  cent 
(254  in  a  thousand).  The  teeth  cases  are  probably  un- 
derestimates, although  we  should  expect  the  high  school 
pupils  to  have  much  better  teeth  and  mouth  conditions 
than  elementary  pupils.  The  defective  high  school  pu- 
pils have  about  one  ailment  each  while  the  elementary 
pupils  have  an  average  of  nearer  two.  The  kind  and 
frequency  of  the  ailments  found  in  the  two  types  of 
schools  seem  remarkably  alike. 

On  the  whole,  we  see  that  the  problem  of  health  in  the 
high  school  is  one  of  the  most  serious  which  the  institu- 
tion must  meet. 

The  supervisor  of  hygiene,  will,  of  course,  have  power 
to  alter  a  pupil's  programme  of  study,  to  prohibit  his 
entering  athletic  contests,  and  to  exclude  him  from 
school  for  infectious  ailments  or  for  not  getting  cured 
ailments  of  which  he  has  been  notified — all,  of  course, 
under  the  general  supervision  of  the  superintendent  of 
schools. 


G88  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

The  best  general  statement  of  the  needs,  the  methods, 
and  the  advantages  of  first-class  medical  inspection  and 
examination  of  high  schools,  to  the  writer's  knowledge, 
has  been  made  by  Doctor  Thomas  Storey,  supervisor  of 
hygiene  in  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  includ- 
ing the  large  secondary  school  connected  with  it.  The 
study  made  by  Doctor  W.  S.  Small  of  the  Eastern  High 
School,  Washington,  D.  C,  is  also  an  important  contri- 
bution, showing  what  can  be  done  without  physicians.1 

School  Sanitation. — Adequate  medical  supervision 
demonstrates  the  need  for  improved  school  sanitation, 
hygiene  of  instruction,  physical  education,  and  health 
teaching.  The  health  needs  and  problems  of  the  pupils 
and  of  the  people  of  the  community  set  the  hygiene 
problems  of  the  high  school.  School  sanitation  is  so 
largely  a  technical  and  detailed  subject  and  varies  so 
much  with  the  different  types  of  high  schools  that  our 
space  permits  little  more  than  its  mention  here.  The 
principles  involved  are  largely  those  involved  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools,  but  there  seems  to  be  a  better  tendency 
toward  improved  sanitary  conditions  in  high  schools 
than  in  elementary  schools,  largely  because  the  high 
schools  are  generally  the  show  buildings  of  towns  and 
much  money  is  put  into  their  construction.  The  newer 
buildings  have  good  lighting,  heating,  ventilating,  and 
sewage  facilities.  Many  more  of  them  are  being  made 
absolutely  fire-proof  or  nearly  so.  The  decorations  are 
attractive  and  restful;  toilet  conveniences  and  sanitary 
drinking  fountains  are  found  on  every  floor;  the  clean- 
ing is  done  with  vacuum-cleaning  appliances;  the  school 
gymnasiums  for  boys  and  girls  have  attached  to  them 
numerous   shower-baths,  with   sometimes   a  swimming 

1  Address  at  Fourth  International  Congress  on  School  Hygiene. 


THE   HYGIENE   OF  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL       689 

pool;  and  there  are  medical  rooms,  rest  and  emergency 
rooms,  and  a  large,  well-lighted  and  ventilated  assembly 
hall.  In  most  of  the  larger  buildings  lunch  rooms  have 
been  provided  which,  under  skilled  faculty  control,  are 
furnishing  wholesome  and  nourishing  food  to  the  student 
body  at  nominal  prices.  The  furniture,  especially  the 
seating,  is  comfortable,  easily  moved  about,  and  adjust- 
able to  the  size  of  pupils  in  all  classrooms,  being  adjusted 
so  as  to  provide  for  pupils  of  different  heights,  so  pupils 
may  find  seats  to  fit  them  when  they  pass  from  room  to 
room. 

The  standard  for  lighting  should  be  glass  space  equal 
to  one  fourth  of  the  floor  space,  with  windows  reaching 
to  the  ceilings  and  with  the  narrowest  possible  mullions 
or  piers  between  windows;  the  curtains  should  be  translu- 
cent ecru  or  light  green  and  should  roll  either  way  from 
the  middle  of  the  windows  or  should  be  on  adjustable 
fixtures  for  moving  them  up  and  down. 

For  details  of  lighting,  heating,  ventilating,  cleaning, 
and  other  sanitary  features  and  measures,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  some  standard  text-book  on  the  subject  such 
as  Dresslar's  "School  Hygiene."  In  this  volume  there  is 
some  statement  of  the  special  adjustments  necessary  to 
meet  the  high  school  situation. 

Hygienic  Teaching  in  the  High  School. — This  phase 
of  health  work  in  schools  is  yet  in  embryo.  We  know 
that  the  health  of  girls  has  been  ruined  by  overstudy 
and  bad  methods  of  work,  by  being  under  the  domina- 
tion of  irritable,  petty,  neurasthenic  teachers;  that  rigid 
uniformity  with  little  adaptation  to  the  individualities  of 
pupils  frequently  creates  a  distaste  for  the  high  school 
amounting  almost  to  nausea;  and,  in  general,  that  the 
methods  of  teaching  and  of  study,  the  subjects,  the  per- 


690  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

sonalities  of  the  teachers,  the  corporate  life  of  the  schools, 
the  amount  of  practical  industrial  work  and  socializing, 
idealizing  talks  and  literature,  or  their  lack  or  opposite, 
may  be  such  as  to  fill  the  pupils  with  joy,  ideals,  vigor, 
enthusiasm,  and  ambition,  or  their  opposites  of  "sliding 
through  somehow,"  "beating  the  game,"  "wonder  if  I 
shall  be  called  upon,"  dislike  for  school,  the  elimination 
of  "two  thirds  of  the  pupils  the  first  year"  with  thirty 
per  cent  discharged  each  year,  and  less  than  ten  per  cent 
of  those  entering  remaining  to  graduate,  and  all  that  lack 
of  vitality,  efficiency,  and  hygienic  living  conditions 
which  develop  under  formal,  mechanical,  and  academic 
systems  with  Gradgrind  teachers  divorced  from  the 
larger  life  of  the  world  and  of  the  adolescent  life  about 
them. 

The  hygiene  of  instruction  or  the  problem  of  hygienic 
teaching  in  the  high  school  will  concern  itself  with  these 
problems  of  health,  happiness,  and  efficiency  which  mean 
so  much  for  the  adequate  socialization  and  education  of 
America's  best  citizenship.  They  are,  as  yet,  mainly 
problems  and  they  can  be  solved  only  by  persons  will- 
ing and  able  to  study  them  especially  in  the  high 
schools  themselves.  The  present  reorganization  of  sec- 
ondary education  which  is  resulting  in  the  throwing  out 
of  a  good  deal  of  the  formal,  unapplied  subjects  less 
valuable  as  educative  machinery  than  other  easily  ob- 
tainable material  nearer  the  lives  of  the  pupils  and  the 
need  of  the  communities,  with  the  introduction  of  motor 
and  industrial  subjects,  up-to-date  literature  appealing 
to  twentieth-century  boys  and  girls  in  a  vital  way,  the 
social-science  courses  which  start  with  the  chief  commu- 
nity problems  of  a  public  character,  introducing  and 
keeping  the  pupils  in  touch  with  vital,  throbbing  issues, 


THE   HYGIENE   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL       691 

the  development  of  agriculture  and  hygiene  courses 
instead  of  so  much  of  the  dead  languages  and  mathe- 
matics— all  these  changes,  even  the  introduction  of  par- 
ticipation in  the  government  of  the  school,  student  gov- 
ernment, will,  just  as  much  as  the  study  of  fatigue  and 
the  type,  or  print,  of  books,  make  for  radical  changes  in 
the  hygienic  influences  of  the  high  school.  When  the 
whole  system  of  hygiene  in  the  public  schools  is  under  a 
scientific  specialist,  a  physician-physical  educator,  to 
lead,  to  study,  and  to  inspire  interest  in  the  various 
phases  of  health,  and  when  we  obtain  teachers  in  touch 
with  the  problems  of  life,  then  we  shall  have  the  indis- 
pensable elements  of  adequate  high  school  hygiene. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  AS  THE  ART  CENTRE  OF  THE 
COMMUNITY 

Ella  Bond  Johnston 
chairman  art  department,  general  federation  of  women's  clubs, 
member  advisory  committee  on  selection  of  paintings,  panama- 
pacific  international  exposition.    president,  1898-1913, 
the  art  association  of  richmond,  ind. 

Complete  Living  Threefold. — Our  public  educational 
system  was  not  conceived  in  a  big  view  of  the  essentials 
of  complete  living;  and  the  much-talked-of  "whole  boy" 
is,  after  all,  viewed  by  educators  as  only  one  third,  or  at 
most  two  thirds,  of  a  complete  human  being,  if  the  offer- 
ings of  our  lopsided  school  curriculums  indicate  all  his 
needs  and  capacities. 

Ages  ago  complete  living  was  declared  to  be  threefold, 
and  truth,  goodness,  and  beauty  are  as  necessary  for  it 
now  as  in  the  ancient  days.  Nevertheless,  our  educa- 
tors have  been  interested  principally  in  truth.  They 
have  been  fascinated  with  the  facts  of  science  and  cap- 
tivated with  the  alluring  output  of  the  printing-press. 
Following  the  easiest  way,  they  have  built  up  a  marvel- 
lous system  of  cramming  the  facts  contained  in  books 
into  the  "boy"  in  forgetfulness  of  his  whole  need  in 
complete  living.  As  a  result,  we  have  the  absurd  spec- 
tacle of  a  well-filled,  so-called  "educated"  population, 

692 


THE   ART   CENTRE   OF  THE   COMMUNITY     693 

yet  with  inadequately  trained  will-power  to  use  its  facts 
for  good  purposes  and  with  no  taste  to  insure  happiness 
and  beauty  in  their  use. 

The  emotions  that  make  up  so  much  of  the  conscious 
secret  life  of  youth  and  are  the  great  source  of  inspira- 
tion— that  fine,  invisible  power  which  drives  character 
and  lends  charm  to  personality — are  these  to  be  ignored? 

Our  educators  do  not,  apparently,  think  it  necessary  to 
make  children  intelligently  acquainted  with  their  own 
emotions,  to  graduate  them  sensitive  to  the  beauty  of 
nature  and  alive  to  the  pleasure  of  art..  They  can  re- 
ceive the  highest  degrees  from  our  greatest  universities 
and  not  know  ragtime  from  Beethoven  and  prefer  a 
chromo  to  Rembrandt.  They  can  become,  under  our 
educational  ideals,  marvels  of  information  in  some  ob- 
scure field  of  scientific  research  and  yet  be  monstrous 
personalities,  crude  children,  incapable  of  appreciative 
enjoyment  of  the  world's  wealth  of  art. 

We  do  not  yet  understand  that  to  be  completely  ready 
to  live — to  be  educated — is  not  only  to  know  the  truth, 
to  do  the  good,  but  also  to  have  the  taste  to  be  beautiful 
in  all  the  visible,  outward  expressions  of  life. 

It  has  been  too  long  in  America  taken  for  granted  that 
taste  is  inborn.  Different  degrees  of  capacity  for  ac- 
quiring it,  doubtless,  may  be  innate  in  individuals,  but 
taste  is  not  inborn.  Bad  taste  is  ignorance.  Good 
taste  is  as  much  a  matter  of  education  as  proficiency  in 
any  branch  of  learning,  but  it  cannot  be  learned  out  of 
books  nor  by  the  psychological  and  scientific  methods  in 
use  in  our  schools  for  presenting  other  subjects.  Taste 
requires  for  its  development  the  actual,  environing  pres- 
ence of  works  of  art — poetry,  music,  painting,  to  hear 
and  see  familiarly. 


694  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Rightful  Place  of  Art  in  Public  Schools. — Appreciation 
by  the  many  with  the  consequent  happiness  and  spir- 
itual enlargement  thus  added  to  life  is  the  primary  pur- 
pose of  art  in  the  public  schools  rather  than  technical 
efficiency  in  drawing  for  the  few.  This  will  require 
changes  in  attitude  and  methods,  but  it  is  the  business 
of  the  public  school  to  carry  the  burden  and  take  the 
lead  in  fostering  all  the  splendid  ideals  to  be  realized  in 
our  democracy.  Our  system  must  be  broad  enough  to 
build  a  civilization  founded  on  the  facts  of  science,  ad- 
ministered in  righteousness,  and  visibly  expressed  in  the 
language  of  beauty  and  art. 

Uniqueness  of  the  Richmond  Story. — The  caption  of 
this  chapter  is  unique  in  the  history  of  education,  and  it 
can  be  readily  understood  that  its  contents  have  not 
been  compiled  from  the  results  of  research  work  in  the 
high  school  field,  neither  is  it  an  essay  on  art  full  of 
theories  and  idle  dreams.  It  is,  in  truth,  a  plain  tale  of 
sixteen  years'  work  in  establishing  an  art  movement  in 
connection  with  the  public  high  school  of  Richmond, 
Ind.,  that  has  attained  the  status  indicated  in  the  chap- 
ter heading.  It  does  not  advance  a  theory  for  making 
a  high  school  an  art  centre,  but  tells  how  one  high  school 
grew  to  be  an  art  centre  in  a  community,  and  in  the 
telling,  perhaps,  can  give  some  of  the  inspiration  that 
made  that  possible. 

Organization. — In  1897  there  was  organized  in  Rich- 
mond, Ind.,  a  city  of  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  in- 
habitants, an  art  association  by  a  few  art-loving  citizens, 
school  officials,  and  local  artists,  that  has  developed  a 
democratic  community  art  movement  which  is  an  inspi- 
ration and  a  model  to  the  rapidly  increasing  number 
who  are  interested  in  the  spread  of  art  in  America,  and 


THE   ART   CENTRE   OF  THE   COMMUNITY     695 

especially  those  who  believe  in  the  use  of  a  schoolhouse 
as  a  centre  of  the  intellectual  life  of  a  community. 

Existing  Conditions. — Happily,  in  this  small  city  there 
were  no  iron-clad,  rock-ribbed  traditions  about  art  being 
too  fine  a  thing  for  the  daily  life  of  the  people,  nor  was 
the  growth  of  this  movement  blighted  in  the  bud  by  those 
fixed  standards  of  taste  that  have  not  changed  since  the 
Italian  Renaissance.  There  was,  however,  in  this  peo- 
ple a  conscious  human  desire  for  beauty,  for  happiness, 
and  for  some  greater  degree  of  satisfying  perfection  in 
their  community  life.  The  leaders  in  this  art  move- 
ment realized  that  no  institution  in  their  midst  was  en- 
deavoring to  meet  this  need  and  set  about  heroically  to 
supply  the  deficiency.  Drawing  was  taught  in  the 
Richmond  schools  as  well  as  in  most  towns,  and  prob- 
ably better.  This  offered  training  for  the  hand  and  eye 
and  some  knowledge  of  the  principles  and  the  history  of 
art,  but  it  did  not  give  that  which  is  of  greater  spiritual 
value  to  the  individual  or  the  community,  the  opportu- 
nity to  enjoy  and  appreciate  works  of  art,  and  in  their 
actual  presence  to  acquire  higher  standards  of  taste  and 
the  refinement  of  the  emotions  which  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  art  gives. 

Efforts  of  Art  Association. — The  efforts,  then,  of  this 
Art  Association  were  directed  toward  supplying  to  the 
established  drawing  work  in  the  schools  an  appreciative 
side  by  adding  to  the  annual  school  exhibit  the  best 
obtainable  works  of  art  in  oil  and  water-color  painting, 
sculpture,  arts  and  crafts,  etc.  Community  interest, 
very  wisely  considered  more  important  in  the  beginning 
than  standards  of  taste,  was  obtained  by  borrowing  for 
the  exhibitions  every  picture,  every  piece  of  handicraft, 
every  curio  having  any  artistic  merit,  and  some  that  had 


696  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

none,  from  the  citizens  of  the  town,  and  also  by  exhibit- 
ing the  work  of  local  artists  and  craftsmen.  The  work 
was  begun  in  the  democratic  spirit  of  William  Morris, 
who  did  not  want  art  for  the  few  any  more  than  edu- 
cation or  freedom  for  the  few.  Thus  always  the  doors 
of  this  art  exhibit,  held  in  a  public  schoolhouse,  were 
open  free  to  every  one  in  the  community.  And  thus 
early  was  here  realized  the  social-centre  ideal. 

Expenses. — -The  expenses  of  these  free  annual  art  ex- 
hibits were  met  by  the  fifty-cent  dues  of  a  large  member- 
ship and  five-dollar  subscriptions  from  interested  citi- 
zens, called  "sustaining  members,"  made  up  from  that 
class  of  business  men  who  everywhere  are  loyal  to  all 
movements  for  the  good  of  their  town.  The  school 
board  assisted  by  furnishing  the  building,  lights,  and 
janitor  service. 

After  seven  years  of  successful  work,  the  importance 
of  the  art  exhibits  established,  the  common  council  of 
the  city  began  annually  to  appropriate  one  hundred  dol- 
lars from  the  city  treasury  to  the  expense  fund,  which 
necessarily  increased  as  the  size  and  quality  of  the  ex- 
hibits increased. 

Schoolhouse  for  Art  Gallery. — For  fourteen  years  the 
exhibitions  were  held  in  June,  during  the  last  week  of  the 
school  year.  The  centrally  located  departmental  school 
building,  where  only  a  few  final  examinations  were  held, 
was  turned  over  to  the  Art  Association,  and  by  the  re- 
moval of  all  desks,  closing  of  unnecessary  windows,  put- 
ting up  of  suitable  backgrounds  this  building  of  twelve 
rooms  and  two  large  corridors  was  magically  transformed 
into  an  art  gallery  where  it  was  possible  to  display  works 
of  art  attractively. 

Early  Exhibits. — Beginning  in  the  easiest  as  well  as 


THE   ART   CENTRE   OF  THE   COMMUNITY     697 

the  most  logical  and  effective  way,  by  exhibiting  all  that 
was  of  local  production  or  interest,  these  annual  exhibi- 
tions were  gradually  extended  to  include  the  work  of 
the  artists  of  the  State,  and  prizes  were  offered  for  the 
best  local  and  State  work,  awards  being  made  by  a 
competent  jury  of  artists  living  outside  the  State.  In 
this  way  poor  work  was  gradually  eliminated  without  of- 
fence to  prevailing  standards  of  taste.  Unconsciously 
the  public  was  educated  to  better  standards  by  the  perva- 
sive influence  of  accredited  work.  With  a  thoroughly 
aroused  community  interest  it  was  easy,  after  a  few  years, 
to  enlarge  the  exhibits  by  the  addition  of  representative 
work  from  the  foremost  American  painters,  sculptors, 
and  craftsmen.  Increased  possibilities  for  getting  the 
best  works  of  art  were  obtained  and  a  great  reduction 
in  cost  was  made  by  inducing  other  cities  in  the  State 
to  join  in  a  circuit  with  Richmond  to  undertake  an  ex- 
hibit and  share  the  general  expense  of  handling  it. 

Attendance. — These  exhibitions  were  attended  by  fifty 
per  cent  of  the  population,  including  the  public-school 
children  under  the  guidance  of  their  teachers,  who  had 
first  visited  the  exhibit  with  the  supervisor  of  drawing. 
The  children  and  teachers  of  three  parochial  schools  of 
the  town  also  attended.  Visitors  were  attracted  from  all 
the  near-by  towns  to  this  annual  "democratic  festival," 
as  the  exhibit  was  called  by  a  noted  publicist. 

Limitations. — After  fourteen  years  of  normal  growth 
this  art  movement  was  thoroughly  established  in  the 
hearts  of  the  citizens  of  the  town  and  regarded  by  school 
officials  as  a  legitimate  part  of  the  year's  work  for  the 
children,  but  it  had  three  serious  limitations: 

First,  the  exhibits  remained  too  much  a  matter  of 
mere  entertainment  to  satisfy  the  leaders  in  the  move- 


698  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ment,  who  regarded  them  as  an  earnest  effort  to  promote 
genuine  art  education  and  culture  in  the  community. 

Second,  the  time  at  the  end  of  the  school  year  left 
but  little  opportunity  for  the  teacher  to  talk  over  the 
pictures  with  the  children  and  fix  permanent  ideals  in 
their  minds. 

Third,  there  was  no  suitable  place  to  display  the  per- 
manent collection  of  paintings  which  the  Art  Association 
was  gradually  acquiring  by  special  gift  and  by  purchase 
with  the  Reid  purchase  fund  of  five  hundred  dollars  given 
by  a  former  Richmond  citizen.  In  other  words,  all  the 
Richmond  art  lovers  needed  was  an  art  gallery  where 
their  collection  might  hang  permanently  and  where 
there  would  be  time  and  opportunity  for  works  of  art 
to  make  a  more  lasting  impression  both  on  the  children 
and  citizens. 

Gallery  in  High  School. — Here,  again,  the  inevitable 
happened.  The  seeming  miracle  of  a  real  art  gallery  in 
a  high  school  building  followed,  naturally,  the  continuous 
development  of  art  culture  in  this  city. 

After  the  school  officials  and  Art  Association  had  co- 
operated in  holding  free  art  exhibits  for  fourteen  years 
the  school  board  deemed  them  of  such  important  edu- 
cational value  as  to  justify  including  an  art  gallery  in 
the  new  high  school  then  being  built. 

This  building  was  designed  by  William  B.  Ittner,  of 
Saint  Louis,  to  whose  imagination  the  unusual  feature  of 
an  art  gallery  at  once  appealed  as  a  suggestive  motif  to 
include  in  the  facade  of  the  building,  with  what  effective 
charm  the  accompanying  photograph  shows.  School- 
houses  as  near  as  may  be  ought  always  to  be  beautiful 
and  to  provide  such  conditions,  at  least,  in  our  country 
that  architects  need  not  follow  traditions  but  may  in- 


THE   ART   CENTRE   OF  THE   COMMUNITY     699 

corporate   something  truly  expressive   of   our  national 
life. 

The  gallery  occupies  the  space  on  the  third  floor  above 
the  auditorium  and  has  three  rooms — -one  large  room, 
twenty-five  feet  by  forty-eight  feet,  opening  on  one 
side  into  two  smaller  rooms,  twenty-four  by  thirty-five, 
which  have  openings  between.  This  arrangement  makes 
easy  the  handling  of  crowds  and  gives  opportunity  for 
vistas  so  essential  in  the  good  hanging  of  large  pictures 
requiring  distance.  The  larger  gallery  opens  on  the 
right  into  the  library  and  there  are  two  entrances  from 
the  corridor  into  the  galleries,  as  the  diagram  shows. 


Corridor 


The  walls  are  ceiled  with  boards  over  plaster  ten  feet 
high  to  the  base  of  the  cove,  which  rises  to  the  inner  sky- 
light of  diffusing  glass.  The  rooms  are  supplied  with 
excellent  electric  light  in  trough  reflectors.  The  ceiled 
walls  are  covered  first  with  stout  brown  paper  over  which 


700  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

is  fitted  and  stretched  a  background  of  all-wool  terry  of  a 
bronze-gray-green  in  which  no  one  of  these  colors  pre- 
dominates, making  an  ideal  background  into  which 
frames  retire  and  from  which  paintings  can  stand  out. 
This  terry  background,  besides  being  ideal  in  color  and 
texture,  is  very  durable  and  has  also  the  great  advan- 
tage of  taking  the  nails  in  its  mesh  without  injury.  Thus, 
with  the  board  ceiling  behind,  it  is  possible,  in  hang- 
ing pictures,  to  drive  nails  wherever  an  artistic  arrange- 
ment requires. 

Between  the  entrance  doors  in  the  corridor  the  wall 
is  recessed  to  contain  a  stone  basin  for  the  "Tortoise 
Fountain,"  in  bronze,  by  Janet  Scudder,  an  Indiana 
woman.  This  fountain  was  given  to  the  Art  Association 
by  a  New  York  man  who  was  once  a  pupil  in  the  old 
Richmond  High  School  and  wished  to  help  the  cause  of 
art  in  his  native  city. 

This  delightful  work  of  art,  with  its  ceaseless  tinkle  of 
falling  water  and  its  setting  of  greenery,  lies  in  the  daily 
path  of  the  pupils,  unknowingly,  perhaps,  to  them  but 
surely,  fixing  in  their  forming  minds  an  ideal  of  beauty 
which  will  remain  for  all  time  an  ideal,  lifting  their  taste 
above  the  ugly  and  commonplace. 

Management. — To  obviate  any  uncertainty  in  regard 
to  the  management  of  this  public  art  gallery,  as  it  was 
named,  an  agreement  was  entered  into  whereby  the 
school  board  was  to  furnish  the  gallery,  light,  curator, 
and  janitor  service,  and  the  Art  Association  to  hang  its 
permanent  collection  of  works  of  art  in  the  gallery,  ar- 
range all  exhibits  to  be  shown  there,  paying  the  ex- 
penses thereof,  except  the  drawing  and  manual- training 
exhibits  of  the  public  schools.  This  arrangement  has 
worked  out  most  satisfactorily. 


THE   ART   CENTRE   OF   THE    COMMUNITY     701 

Schedule  of  Exhibits  for  One  Season.— During  the 
season  of  191 2-13  nine  exhibits  were  held,  rotating  in 
such  manner  that  something  was  nearly  always  in  the 
gallery. 

The  following  is  the  schedule: 

October  1-27,  191 2:  "The  Sixteenth  Annual  Exhibi- 
tion of  American  Paintings."  Seventy-five  oils  and 
water-colors,  mostly  by  New  York  artists.  This  exhibit 
was  also  shown  on  a  circuit  of  fifteen  other  cities  in  the 
Middle  West. 

November  8-29,  191 2:  "The  Sixteenth  Annual  Ex- 
hibition by  Indiana  Artists."  One  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  paintings  and  seventy-five  pieces  of  handicraft.  A 
selected  group  of  fifty  paintings  was  afterward  shown  on 
a  circuit  of  eight  Indiana  cities. 

December  1-10,  1912:  Spanish  paintings  and  color 
prints  of  paintings  in  the  Prado  Gallery,  Madrid,  loaned 
by  W.  D.  Foulke,  of  Richmond. 

December  14,  1912-January  1,  1913:  Hand-colored 
prints,  series  of  the  Abbey  Holy  Grail  decorations  in  the 
Boston  Public  Library,  loaned  by  Curtis  and  Cameron. 

January  1-29,  1913:  Philadelphia  Water-Color  Club 
Exhibit  of  eighty-one  water-colors  and  pastels. 

February  12-March  31,  1913:  Oil  paintings,  forty,  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  Ottis  Adams,  of  Brookville,  Ind. 

April  8-1 1,  1913:  Japanese  prints,  stencils,  and  kake- 
monos, loaned  by  Mrs.  Virgil  Lockwood,  Indianapolis. 

June  1-13,  1913:  Sixteenth  Annual  Exhibition  of  the 
Drawing  and  Manual-Training  Departments  of  the 
Richmond  Public  Schools. 

There  were  also  held  in  the  gallery,  during  this  season, 
eighteen  meetings  of  women's  clubs,  twenty-one  recep- 
tions for  clubs  and  schools,  and  twelve  art  lectures,  be- 


702  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

sides  many  art  lessons  for  teachers  and  pupils.  The 
number  of  visitors  in  the  gallery  for  the  season  was 
eleven  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-four. 

Opportunity  for  New  Relationships. — The  foregoing 
brief  statement  of  facts,  taken  from  the  president's  an- 
nual report  to  the  Art  Association,  does  not  disclose,  ex- 
cept to  the  experienced  in  such  work,  their  far-reaching 
influence.  When  the  principal  and  teachers  of  a  ward 
or  high  school  hold  an  evening  reception — which  happens 
many  times  during  the  year — to  the  parents  and  children 
of  their  school  in  beautiful  art  galleries,  with  paintings, 
music,  good  clothes,  good  manners,  refreshments,  it 
means  the  establishment  of  a  new  relationship  between 
teachers  and  pupils  more  intimate  and  human  than  that 
of  the  schoolroom,  and  under  elevating  and  refining 
conditions  superior  to  any  known  elsewhere  by  many 
pupils  and  parents.  It  means,  too,  the  possibility  of 
socializing  beauty  and  art,  which,  in  a  country  where 
the  people  are  sovereign,  is  fundamentally  essential  to 
the  "beautiful  America"  of  which  we  dream. 

Use  by  High  School. — The  gallery  is  a  special  class- 
room for  the  high  school  pupils  where  they  learn  the 
languages  of  form  and  color.  They  see  the  exhibits  with 
the  drawing  teacher  and  learn  about  artists  from  their 
works,  becoming  familiar  with  their  ideals  and  expres- 
sions of  beauty,  studying  their  technic  by  making  small 
sketches  of  the  paintings  in  colored  chalks  or  water-col- 
or's. Thus  they  acquire  the  ability  to  discriminate  be- 
tween what  is  good  and  what  is  bad  in  art.  This  is 
taste. 

Chromos  cannot  be  sold  to  all  the  graduates  of  the 
Richmond  High  School.  This  was  probably  possible 
sixteen  years  ago. 


THE   ART   CENTRE   OF   THE   COMMUNITY     703 

The  English  teachers  make  good  use  of  the  exhibits 
for  themes,  for  here  is,  in  truth,  something  concrete,  visi- 
ble, and  near  at  hand  to  write  and  talk  about.  Of 
course  interest  runs  high. 

By  Grades. — It  is  an  interesting  sight  to  see  fifty 
sixth-grade  pupils,  seated  on  the  gallery  floor  before  one 
of  Elizabeth  Nourse's  most  beautiful  paintings,  answer- 
ing all  the  teacher's  questions  as  to  why  the  figures  were 
placed  on  the  canvas  as  they  are,  where  the  artist 
stood  when  painting  the  picture,  what  was  on  the  level 
of  her  eye,  where  the  window  was  that  let  in  the  light 
so  beautifully  on  the  baby's  face,  why  the  mother's  dress 
was  blue  instead  of  red,  and,  finally,  what  was  the 
really  beautiful  thing  the  picture  had  to  say,  to  which 
the  worst  boy  in  the  class  answers  quite  solemnly:  "A 
mother  and  her  little  baby." 

Would  any  one  contend  for  a  moment  that  arithmetic 
would  have  a  more  valuable  influence  on  the  life  of  that 
boy  than  this  kind  of  art  study  or  that  any  drill  sub- 
ject can  so  function?  Yet  he  has  years  of  arithmetic 
and  only  rare  days  of  art,  even  in  favored  Richmond. 

By  Clubs.— The  Art  Study  Committee  of  the  Art 
Association  meets  in  the  gallery  to  study  the  exhibits 
with  the  aid  of  lectures  and  the  best  works  on  modern 
art,  as,  for  instance,  "Landscape  Painting,"  by  Birge 
Harrison.  The  various  women's  clubs  of  the  city  visit 
the  gallery  to  hear  talks  on  the  exhibits.  The  Music 
Study  Club  has  placed  pianos  in  the  gallery  and  uses 
this  as  a  regular  meeting-place. 

By  Local  Artists. — To  the  local  painters  and  crafts- 
men the  gallery  furnishes  a  place  to  display  their  own 
work  and  the  opportunity  in  the  passing  exhibits  to  get 
help  and  inspiration  from  the  work  of  their  contempo- 


704  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

raries  in  art.  That  this  has  been  valuable  to  them  is 
shown  in  the  remarkable  improvement  in  their  work 
during  the  years  of  these  exhibits. 

This  Richmond  community  has  profited  by  the  work 
of  its  local  painters  and  has  learned  from  them  to  see  its 
own  familiar  landscape  with  new,  "seeing"  eyes,  to  get 
the  artist's  point  of  view,  and  to  love  first  when  they  see 
them  painted  things  they  had  passed,  perhaps,  a  hun- 
dred times,  nor  cared  to  see,  as  Browning  so  well  says  it. 

Open  Days. — The  art  gallery  is  open  to  the  public 
during  all  school  hours,  Saturday  and  Sunday  after- 
noons, night-school  evenings,  and  many  special  evenings. 

Artistic  catalogues  are  sold  for  ten  cents,  containing 
much  information  about  the  pictures  and  artists. 

Permanent  Collection  of  Works  of  Art. — The  perma- 
nent collection  of  the  Art  Association  hangs  in  one  of  the 
smaller  galleries  and  is  always  on  view.  It  contains  the 
following  works  of  art: 

The  Art  Association  Purchases 

1899.  T.  C.  Steele,  "Whitewater  Valley." 

1900.  J.  E.  Bundy,  "Blue  Spring." 

1901.  Mrs.  H.  St.  John,  "Roses." 

1901.  John  Vanderpoel,  "Sunlight  and  Shadow." 

1901.  Pauline  D.  Rudolph,  "In  Wonderland." 

1902.  Charles  Curran,  "Building  the  Dam." 

1903.  R.  B.  Grulle,  "In  Verdure  Clad." 

1903.  Frank  Girardin,  "Sunshine  and  Shadow." 

1904.  Charles  Conner,  "November  Day." 

Purchased  with  the  Reid  Purchase  Fund 

1903.  Henry  Mosler,  "The  Duett." 

1904.  Ben  Foster,  "Late  Afternoon,  Litchfield  Hills." 

1905.  Leonard  Ochtman,  "Old  Pastures." 

1906.  H.  M.  Walcott,  "Hare  and  Hounds." 


THE   ART   CENTRE   OF  THE   COMMUNITY     705 

1907.  Frank  V.  DuMond,  "At  the  Well." 

1908.  Albert  L.  Groll,  "The  Hopi  Mesa." 

1909.  Robert  Reid,  "Peonies." 

1910.  John  C.  Johansen,  "Fiesole,  Florence." 

Gifts  to  the  Art  Association 

1902.     J.   Ottis  Adams,   "A  Summer  Afternoon."     (Presented 
by  Tuesday  Aftermath  Club.) 

1909.  Janet  Scudder,  "The  Tortoise  Fountain."     (Presented 

by  Warner  Leeds.) 

1910.  Gladys  H.  Wilkinson,  "A  Corner  in  the  Studio."     (Whit- 

ney-Hoff    Museum    Purchase,    presented   by   Inter- 
national Art  Union,  Paris.) 

1910.  Robert    W.    Grafton,    "Portrait,   Timothy    Nicholson." 

(Indefinite  loan  by  Nicholson  family.) 

191 1.  E.   T.   Hurley,  Three  etchings.     (Presented  by  E.   T. 

Hurley.) 

191 1.  Misses    Overbeck,    "Vase,    Overbeck    Pottery."     (Pre- 

sented by  the  Misses  Overbeck.) 

191 2.  Walter   Shirlaw,  Sketches,  three   oils,  one   water-color. 

(Presented  by  Mrs.  Walter  Shirlaw.) 

Conclusion. — This  Richmond  experience  seems  to 
demonstrate  that  an  art  gallery  for  art  exhibits  fills  a 
deficiency  in  our  high  school  education  and  meets  the 
natural  human  demand  for  beauty  in  life.  It  proves 
that  an  art  gallery  is  as  useful  in  a  high  school  as  is  a 
laboratory  or  a  gymnasium,  a  library  or  an  auditorium, 
and  that  it  is  as  interesting  and  educative  for  children  to 
learn  about  art  and  artists  as  about  war  and  warriors  or 
any  other  of  the  subjects  that  make  up  the  curriculum. 

The  qualities  possessed  by  a  work  of  art — unity,  sin- 
cerity, harmony,  simplicity,  idealism,  beauty — stand  in 
closer  relation  to  the  building  of  a  perfect  life  than  the 
laws  of  physics  or  chemistry;  and  the  "whole  boy"  is 
to  be  educated  for  complete  living. 


706  THE    MODERN    HIGH    SCHOOL 

The  art  gallery  cannot  be  omitted  from  the  future  high 
school,  which  more  and  more  is  to  become  the  people's 
college  if  we  would  develop  a  nation  of  completely  edu- 
cated people,  with  reverence  for  the  beauty  of  the  earth 
and  a  passion  for  recording  the  fine  ideals  of  our  nation 
in  enduring  art  forms  that  will  add  charm  to  our  com- 
mon life,  and  to  our  splendid  democratic  institutions 
something  of  the  "glory  that  was  Greece  and  the 
grandeur  that  was  Rome." 

Henry  Turner  Bailey  thus  voices  his  appreciation  of 
this  art  movement  in  The  School  Arts  Book  for  April, 
1912: 

"The  Richmond  people  have  produced  a  model  educa- 
tional institution.  Think  of  it!  A  kitchen,  a  gymna- 
sium, and  the  oldest  of  the  constructive  arts  on  the 
ground  floor,  and  a  library  and  an  art  gallery  on  top! 
Verily  the  people  who  have  turned  the  educational  world 
right  side  up  at  last  live  in  Richmond,  Ind.  They  have 
put  the  solid  living-rooms  of  the  manual  worker  beneath, 
and  the  'chambers  of  imagery'  of  the  poet  and  artist 
above;  they  have  builded  at  last  a  sure  house,  fully 
equipped  for  every  good  work  and  word,  a  fit  home  in 
which  to  bring  up  children  who  shall  be  worthy  citizens 
of  a  republic." 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

THE  MORAL  AGENCIES  AFFECTING  THE  HIGH 
SCHOOL   STUDENT 

John  Calvin  Hanna,  A.M. 

STATE    SUPERVISOR    OF   HIGH    SCHOOLS,    ILLINOIS,    FORMERLY    PRINCIPAL 

OF    OAK   PARK   AND   RIVER   FOREST   TOWNSHIP   HIGH   SCHOOL, 

OAK   PARK,   ILL. 

A  Reasonable  Classification. — The  agencies  that  have 
had  a  part  in  the  moral  training  of  men  have  been  fairly 
classified  by  Professor  Tufts  under  three  heads: 

(i)  What  may  be  called  indirect  agencies;  that  is, 
those  through  which  is  produced  a  moral  result,  even 
though  such  a  result  is  not  consciously  intended.  Ex- 
amples may  be  given  as  follows : 

Work  undertaken  to  earn  a  living  is  one  of  the  most 
effective  agencies  in  developing  responsible  conduct. 
Family  life,  though  entered  into  not  at  all  with  a  moral 
purpose,  naturally  becomes  a  school  of  kindness  and 
sympathy.  The  company  of  one's  fellows,  sought  per- 
haps for  economic  gain  or  in  obedience  to  the  herding 
instinct,  leads  to  interchanges  of  goods  and  rendering  of 
services  and  ideas  which  undermine  the  primitive  dis- 
trust and  hostility  of  men.  Struggles  for  mastery  or  for 
liberty  or  for  possession,  though  prompted  by  conflict- 
ing interests,  force  men  to  closer  union  to  establish  order 
and  to  think  of  rights  and  justice. 

707 


708  THE   MODERN   HIGH  SCHOOL 

(2)  Agencies  of  Custom. — Certain  ways  of  acting 
started  by  society,  sometimes  on  rational  grounds,  some- 
times through  chance,  have  come  to  be  regarded  as  im- 
portant. These  judgments  of  society  are  impressed  upon 
all  members  through  praise  or  ridicule  or  blame,  through 
taboos,  or  even  through  force.  By  drill  of  ritual  or  cere- 
monial, by  investing  with  sacredness  through  art  and 
music,  the  members  of  society  are  trained  to  observance 
of  these  ways.  Many  rules  of  religion,  etiquette,  and 
other  fields  of  behavior  are  thus  developed. 

(3)  Direct  Agencies  of  Reflective  Morality. — Moral  lead- 
ers have  arisen  who  have  set  forth  clearly  and  directly 
moral  standards  or  have  persuaded  to  moral  advance. 
These  have  most  readily  found  a  mission  when  old 
customs  have  become  unsuited  to  new  conditions. 
Moses,  Isaiah,  Socrates,  Jesus  are  familiar  examples. 

Space  has  been  given  to  this  sensible  and  important 
classification  in  order  to  remind  students  of  the  moral 
agencies  which  affect  the  high  school  pupil,  and  that  all 
these  agencies  suggested  by  and  belonging  under  these 
categories  must  be  included  and  reckoned  with. 

The  School  Not  the  Only  Agency. — The  question  as  to 
the  moral  development  of  any  individual  youth  in  a  high 
school  will  be  determined  not  alone  by  any  system  of 
moral  instruction  that  may  be  given  in  the  schools,  nor 
alone  by  the  character  and  influence  of  his  teachers,  nor 
alone  by  the  influence  of  his  fellow  pupils,  nor  alone  by 
the  routine  of  the  activities  of  the  school,  official  and 
unofficial,  nor  alone  by  all  of  these  together.  It  is  as 
truly  important  in  estimating  the  final  outcome  in  his 
matured  character  to  know  what  is  the  nature  of  the 
family  life  of  which  he  forms  a  part,  the  economic  prob- 
lems and  responsibilities  that  are  carried  by  that  family 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      709 

and  by  its  members,  including  himself,  the  pressure  of 
work  outside  of  school  upon  the  youth,  the  relation  of  his 
life  to  the  political  movements  that  so  mightily  influence 
and  are  influenced  by  private  life.  It  will  be  necessary 
to  know  what  he  has  to  do  with  his  neighbors  and  how, 
what  his  training,  conscious  and  unconscious,  has  been 
and  is  in  the  tangled  details  of  social  and  religious  life. 
It  will  be  necessary  to  know  what  influence  has  been 
exerted  on  him  directly  or  indirectly  by  the  great  moral 
leaders  through  the  sanctions  and  pressures  of  the  vari- 
ous agencies  that  have  sprung  from  these  sources. 

Is  the  boy's  father  a  millionaire,  and  does  the  boy  have 
a  valet  at  home?  Does  he  get  up  at  four  o'clock  to  look 
after  a  newspaper  route? 

Is  he  accustomed  to  finger-bowls  and  dinner  clothes? 
Does  he  get  his  midday  meal  from  a  tin  pail  or  from  a 
free-lunch  counter? 

Does  he  attend  a  catechism  class  regularly?  Which 
occupies  him  on  Sunday  mornings — the  international 
lessons  or  the  comic  supplements? 

Whatever  may  be  said  by  the  anxious  theorist  as  to 
the  burden  resting  upon  the  public  school  for  the  moral 
care  of  the  children  and  youth  of  the  country,  all  these 
other  agencies  do  wort  and  always  will  work  and  ought 
to  work  actively,  constantly,  and  to  an  important  de- 
gree in  accomplishing  the  moral  development  of  the 
young. 

Utilize  All  Agencies. — Moreover,  every  plan  and  intel- 
ligent effort  to  exert  an  uplift  upon  high  school  pupils 
through  the  agencies  that  are  effective  in  and  through 
the  school  must  take  into  account  all  of  these  outside 
influences,  must  study  and  adapt  and  utilize  every  one 
of  these  in  order  not  only  to  accomplish  the  very  best 


710  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

results  but  even  oftentimes  to  escape  disaster  and 
ridicule.  A  failure  on  the  part  of  schools  to  face  and 
grapple  with  these  other  moral  agencies  of  whatever 
sort  and  of  whatever  origin  often  leads  the  youth  to 
defy  or  to  laugh  at  the  anxious,  well-meant  efforts  of 
the  teachers  in  whose  hands  he  is  placed  or,  at  any  rate, 
to  appear  almost  wholly  impervious  to  the  influences 
which  the  school  exerts.  A  college  classmate  of  mine  not 
long  ago  unearthed  a  crude  and  long-forgotten  cartoon 
for  which  my  pencil  was  responsible.  The  art  was  nil, 
the  wit  was  not  impressive,  and  the  aptness  of  the  satire 
to  the  occasion  may  not  have  been  clear,  but  the  lesson 
in  it  was  based  on  sound  pedagogy.  The  faculty,  repre- 
sented by  an  anxious  hen  mother,  stood  on  the  bank  of 
a  puddle  vainly  urging  certain  recreant  seniors,  typified 
by  complacent,  paddling  ducklings,  to  come  back  to  the 
bank  like  good  chicks. 

Ignoring  the  Facts. — Too  often  we  attempt  to  ignore 
the  eternal  facts  of  society  in  dealing  with  children. 
And  this  "we"  means  the  very  earnest  and  very  igno- 
rant young  schoolma'am  fresh  from  the  university;  it 
means  the  "experienced"  high  school  principal  (whose 
experience,  like  the  wisdom  of  the  famous  oculist,  has, 
perhaps,  been  obtained  by  "spoiling  a  peck  of  eyes"); 
it  means  no  less  the  psychologists  and  other  wise 
men  who  attack  the  problem  from  the  safe  standpoint 
of  philosophic  theory,  starting,  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously, with  the  convenient  assumption  not  only  that 
the  school  ought  to  take  entire  charge  of  the  child's 
moral  training  but  that  it  can  so  take  charge  and  can, 
if  the  problem  be  handled  according  to  wise  theories  of 
moral  conduct,  take  the  youthful  soul,  unformed  and 
plastic,  mould  it  into  beauty,  breathe  into  its  nostrils  the 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      711 

breath  of  spiritual  life,  and  then  point  with  pride  to  its 
own  handiwork,  saying:  "Behold  the  perfect  man  and 
woman  of  my  creation!"  To  an  unkind  and  coldly 
scientific  casual  inspector  the  result  sometimes  reminds 
one  of  the  philosopher  who  ridiculed  Plato's  definition  of 
a  man — "a  featherless  biped" — by  plucking  a  goose  and 
exclaiming:  "Behold  Plato's  man!" 

What  Is  the  School's  Responsibility? — What,  then,  is 
the  extent  of  the  school's  responsibility  for  moral  train- 
ing and  wherein  does  it  lie?  These  are  questions  of  pe- 
culiar importance  in  a  democracy  where  the  school  is 
maintained  by  the  state.  The  school  is  the  "main  reli- 
ance for  democratic  optimism."  The  question  whether 
the  experiment  of  self-government,  now  in  its  second 
century,  is  to  be  a  permanent  success  depends  for  its 
answer,  in  the  opinion  of  many  besides  President  Eliot, 
on  the  public  school. 

Alice  Freeman  Palmer's  definition  of  the  moral  edu- 
cation of  a  child,  that  it  "consists  in  imparting  to  him 
the  three  qualities,  obedience,  sympathy,  dignity,"  would 
seem  to  reach  to  the  essence  of  the  demands  for  a  safe 
citizenship.  Humboldt  wisely  said:  "Whatever  we  wish 
to  see  introduced  into  the  life  of  a  nation  must  be  first 
introduced  into  the  school." 

The  limitation  is  suggested  by  Dewey's  remark  that, 
"apart  from  participation  in  social  life,  the  school  has 
no  moral  end  nor  aim." 

Co-operation  Necessary. — Because  of  the  interrelation, 
intentional  or  not,  of  the  many  influences  suggested 
above  as  inevitable  moral  agencies,  it  is  not  only  wise 
but  necessary  that  between  these  institutions,  home, 
school,  church,  state,  in  so  far  as  conscious,  each  of  its 
own  particular  aim,  there  should  be  intelligent  and 
harmonious  co-operation. 


712  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Why  Are  There  Bad  Boys  and  Girls? — Some  one  asked 
the  question:  "If  the  schools  are  doing  so  much  for 
character  building,  why  are  there  so  many  bad  boys  and 
girls?"  This  inquiry,  made  every  day  in  one  form  or 
another  and  in  one  spirit  or  another,  must  be  faced;  and 
it  is  answered  thoughtfully  and  temporarily  by  George 
H.  Martin  in  an  article  in  Religious  Education.  "  What," 
says  he,  "confronts  a  child  on  looking  away  from  the 
school  and  its  teaching?  He  finds  in  the  home  laxity 
of  discipline  and  little  insistence  on  even  the  outward 
marks  of  respect.  He  does  not  find  in  the  world  that 
practice  of  justice  and  fair  dealing  that  he  has  been  led 
to  respect.  He  cannot  help  seeing  that  fraud  and  chi- 
canery and  dishonesty  are  prevalent  and  their  practice 
by  the  people  in  good  society  is  winked  at  and  condoned. 
In  business  and  politics  and  often  in  social  affairs  he 
learns  that  a  sacred  regard  for  truth  is  not  considered 
consistent  with  a  workable  policy.  He  finds  that  'man's 
inhumanity  to  man'  still  'makes  countless  thousands 
mourn.'  When  he  has  formed  in  school  a  standard  of 
temperate  and  frugal  living  he  is  confronted  in  his  own 
home  by  domestic  waste  and  expenditure  for  unnecessary 
luxury  and  on  every  corner  by  a  drinking  saloon  licensed 
by  public  authority.  He  has  been  taught  industry,  and 
he  sees  the  idle  rich  faring  sumptuously  every  day  and 
the  idle  poor  supported  at  public  experise.  And  as  for 
chastity,  he  finds  that  society  insists  upon  it  only  for 
women.  He  sees  every  form  of  vice  made  heroic  in  the 
yellow  journal  and  on  the  yellow  stage."  A  depressing 
outlook,  truly,  for  a  permanent  moral  uplift  to  come 
from  the  public  school,  if  that  institution  must  alone 
carry  the  responsibility! 

In  Loco  Parentis. — When  we  say  that  the  teacher 
stands  in  loco  parentis  we  do  not  mean  it  in  reality.    If 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      713 

it  were  to  be  so,  then  woe  unto  the  foundation  of  society, 
which  is  not  the  school  but  the  family!  Said  the  wisest 
of  Greek  dramatists  in  knowledge  of  human  nature: 
"The  errors  of  the  parents  the  gods  turn  to  the  undoing 
of  their  children." 

No  attacks  upon  the  school  by  critics,  no  discussion  of 
the  theoretical  questions  involved,  no  consensus  of  the 
wise  men,  no  pouring  out  of  treasure  by  the  public,  no 
zeal  on  the  part  of  trained  and  devoted  leaders  will  ever 
place  the  teacher  in  loco  parentis.  God  made  the  fam- 
ily; man  made  the  schools. 

The  Eternal  Problem. — The  magnitude  of  the  problem 
of  the  moral  education  of  the  young  is  not  yet  within 
our  comprehensive  grasp.  It  must  be  more  clearly  and 
vitally  related  to  the  institutions  that  are,  that  ever  have 
been,  and  that  always  will  be. 

No  one  of  these  institutions  can  solve  the  eternal 
problem  alone.  Even  religion  cannot  solve  it  alone  for 
adolescent  youth  and  its  needs.  The  secondary  school 
is  created  for  the  development  of  character  in  youth, 
but  the  father  and  mother  cannot  evade  the  responsi- 
bility for  themselves. 

The  Responsibility  of  the  Family. — Whatever  the 
school  may  or  may  not  be  able  to  do,  it  is  in  the  home 
in  which  in  whole  or  in  part  that  are  determined  habits 
of  industry,  conceptions  of  God,  duty,  honor,  honesty, 
emotional  reactions  of  many  sorts,  habits  of  speech, 
motor  reactions  as  posture,  carriage,  etc.,  habits  of  obedi- 
ence, industry,  and  cleanliness,  and  in  large  measure  the 
standards  of  conduct.  If  there  were  no  other  proof  of 
this  assertion,  we  must  not  forget  that  for  many  of  these 
things  the  school  gets  the  child  too  late.  The  habit  of 
obedience,  or  disobedience,  for  example,  is  formed  before 


714  THE   MODERN    HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  child  is  two  years  old.  As  Doctor  Athearn  has  put 
it:  "  The  school  has  too  long  been  the  dumping-ground 
for  the  problems  of  home." 

Teach  the  Family. — Of  course,  the  weakness  of  family 
training  does  not  dispose  of  the  question  for  the  devoted 
student  of  life  problems.  The  reforms  of  society  must 
begin  somewhere  and  they  must  come  slowly.  It  is  for 
the  school,  in  so  far  as  opportunity  and  resources  fit  it 
for  the  task,  not  to  do  the  work  for  the  family  but  to 
teach  the  family  to  do  certain  work  for  itself. 

The  Impossible  and  the  Possible. — This  sounds  like 
attempting  to  solve  a  problem  by  doubling  or  trebling 
that  problem.  But  there  is  much  that  teachers  can  do. 
We  may  and  we  must  cease  to  consider  ourselves  as 
only  "servants  of  the  people"  and  remember  that  we 
are  a  part  of  the  people  with  rights  and  duties  as  mould- 
ers of  public  opinion.  We  must  not  forget  that  we  con- 
trol the  educational  press  and  that  the  religious  and 
secular  press  is  largely  open  to  our  contributions.  We 
must  keep  in  mind  the  many  gatherings,  school  exhibi- 
tions, conventions,  and  the  like  where  the  utterances 
of  teachers  are  listened  to.  Why  not  for  the  next  dec- 
ade make  this  the  teachers'  cry  and  the  teachers'  aim: 
"Back  to  home  life."1 

School  Momentum. — It  is  worth  while  to  remember 
that  the  very  momentum  of  school  activity,  highly  or- 
ganized as  it  is  and  wholly  devoted  in  theory  to  uplift, 
will  carry  over  into  the  home  much  of  what  is  worth 
while,  to  set  in  motion  there,  in  spite  of  moral  inertia, 
the  currents  of  life. 

An  Unorganized  Field  of  Inquiry. — A  large  field  this 
and  one   that  is  ploughed  largely  at  haphazard,  with 

1  Walter  S.  Athearn,  Religions  Education,  5,  124-130. 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      715 

hardly  a  systematic  furrowing,  let  alone  an  intelligent 
ordering  of  seeding  and  harvesting.  Harris  said  in  re- 
gard to  moral  training  in  the  public  schools:  "  There 
is  no  topic  concerning  which  the  suggestions  made  are 
more  idle  and  unprofitable."  After  literally  wading 
through  thick  volumes  of  the  utterances  of  jurists  and 
moralists  and  statesmen  and  philanthropists  and  pro- 
fessors and  "practical"  teachers,  a  humble  student  can 
bless  the  good  doctor  for  his  somewhat  cynical  utterance. 
And  yet  amid  all  the  chaff  there  are  grains  of  wheat. 
There  are  bright  sayings,  profound  and  logical  argu- 
ments, sharp  utterances  that  like  lightning  clear  the 
murky  atmosphere  of  pedagogical  platitude. 

Some  Helpful  Suggestions. — Here  is  a  handful  of  wise 
and  practical  suggestions  gathered  almost  at  random  and 
placed  here  for  the  encouragement  (as  the  writer  was 
encouraged)  of  those  who  grow  weary  of  analyzing  pon- 
derous bibliographies : 

(a)  "  Thinkers  regard  as  the  chief  factor  in  man's  as- 
cent from  the  brute  his  increasing  brain  capacity  and 
Consequent  thereupon  his  increasing  power  of  memory 
— in  other  words,  the  increasing  power  of  his  ideas  over 
his  instincts." — (F.  H.  Haywood,  in  Sadler's  "Interna- 
tional Inquiry  into  Moral  Training  in  Schools.") 

(b)  "Loose,  slipshod  work  has  an  immoral  effect  upon 
the  student." — (C.  W.  Barnes,  National  Education  Asso- 
ciation Proceedings,  1909.) 

(c)  The  whole  suggestive  outline  of  Brumbaugh,  "The 
Problem  Stated,"  in  the  Report  of  the  National  Educa- 
tional Commission  on  Moral  Education,  191 1 — particu- 
larly his  definition  of  the  fields  of  elementary,  secondary, 
and  higher  education  in  this  region. 

(d)  David  R.  Porter's  statement,  after  a  depressing 


716  THE   MODERN    HIGH   SCHOOL 

array  of  data  as  to  low  moral  conditions  in  high  schools, 
that  "in  most  cases  evils  exist  because  boys  are  igno- 
rant, not  because  they  are  vicious,"  and  that  "  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  winning  support  in  seeking  better  things." 

(e)  His  interesting  suggestion,  now  in  process  of  ex- 
periment in  many  places,  that  a  purely  voluntary  moral 
and  religious  movement  may  succeed  when  compulsory 
moral  and  religious  training  must  fail,  even  if  it  were 
possible  to  attempt  it. 

Three  Natural  Stages. — There  must  be  a  sound  psy- 
chology at  the  basis  of  every  intelligent  effort  to  furnish 
moral  training  in  the  high  school.  The  clear  recogni- 
tion of  the  three  natural  phases  of  moral  activity  corre- 
sponding to  the  development  of  the  mind  from  childhood 
through  adolescence  to  manhood  is  helpful  here;  the 
three  stages  when  successively  fear,  faith,  and  insight 
are  each  the  guiding  star  for  the  soul  in  meeting  moral 
questions.  The  second  of  these  must  control  in  the 
adolescent  stage,  and  this  goal  helps  to  emphasize  the 
importance  of  the  personal  relation  between  teacher  and 
pupil  at  this  age.  There  must  be  a  hero;  it  will  be  the 
teacher  if  he  is  fit  and  wise. 

This  longing  for  a  hero  is  a  mighty  factor  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  high  school  teacher,  provided  always  that 
the  work  properly  belonging  to  the  age  of  childhood  has 
been  well  done,  and  that,  of  course,  is  the  work  of  form- 
ing the  habit  of  obedience.  The  story  is  in  point  of 
the  question  asked  of  George  Washington's  mother  by 
French  officers  at  the  banquet  after  Cornwallis's  surren- 
der, how  she  had  made  so  great  a  man,  and  her  reply: 
"I  taught  George  to  obey." 

An  Illustration. — An  illustration  of  the  necessity  of 
recognizing  this  all-important  factor  in  the  psychology 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      717 

of  the  adolescent  is  that,  as  Porter  puts  it:  "The  strong- 
est influence  on  high  school  boys  in  the  United  States 
to-day  is  the  influence  of  college  men.  Home,  church, 
politics  do  not  begin  to  exert  such  influence  as  (for  ex- 
ample) college  athletics  and  college  fraternities."  The 
high  school  boy  must  have  his  hero,  and  he  will  imitate 
his  vices  as  readily  at  least  as  his  virtues. 

How  to  Use  Hero-Worship. — It  is  here  that  there  is  a 
point  of  contact  to  be  watched  most  closely  between  the 
worship  of  the  college  man  and  athlete  on  the  one  hand 
and  his  power  for  discipline  in  the  handling  of  boys  occu- 
pied in  athletics.  The  boy  soon  comes  to  see  that  the 
habits  of  thoroughness,  obedience,  hard  work,  and  co- 
operation (which  means  the  opposite  of  selfishness  and 
self-conceit)  are  called  for  as  truly  and  as  inevitably  when 
he  follows  his  hero  on  the  athletic  field  as  when  he  faces 
his  instructor  in  the  class. 

The  Adolescent  Collapse. — We  must  not  complain 
when  we  discover  in  the  individual  boy  or  girl  that  fact 
which  is  present  in  the  adolescent  period  of  all  boys  or 
girls — namely,  that  "  during  this  period  there  is  a  pro- 
gressive loss  of  interest  in  the  things  the  school  deals 
with;  that  there  is  a  sense  of  escape  from  connections 
that  have  held  the  child  and  a  marked  disinclination  to 
make  other  connections.  The  blame  for  this  collapse 
cannot  be  laid  entirely  upon  the  schools,  but  we  must 
recognize  and  help  to  make  it  clear  to  those  who  control 
the  springs  of  society  that  the  moral  problems  of  this 
dangerous  period  will  not  be  solved  until  the  individual 
can  drift  easily  out  of  the  school  into  organizations 
whose  influence  is  in  the  direction  of  clean  activity." 

School  Virtues  and  Life  Virtues. — Too  often  the  dis- 
cussion of  moral  training  in  the  high  school  is  narrowed 


718  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

to  the  possibilities  of  inculcating  what  are  commonly 
enumerated  as  the  "school  virtues."  President  Eliot 
wisely  insists  that  we  must  teach  children  the  funda- 
mental truths  that  lie  at  the  foundation  of  the  demo- 
cratic social  theory.  These  he  enumerates  briefly  as 
follows:  "ist,  the  intimate  interdependence  of  each  hu- 
man individual  on  a  multitude  of  other  individuals,  not 
in  infancy  alone  but  at  every  moment  of  life — a  depen- 
dence which  increases  with  civilization  and  with  the  de- 
velopment of  urban  life;  2d,  the  essential  unity  of  a 
democratic  community  in  spite  of  endless  diversities  of 
functions,  capacity,  and  achievement  among  the  indi- 
viduals who  compose  the  community;  3d,  that  service 
rendered  to  others  is  the  surest  source  of  one's  own  satis- 
faction and  happiness  (this  doctrine  is  a  tap-root  of 
private  happiness  among  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
man,  but  in  a  democracy  it  is  important  to  public  hap- 
piness and  well-being);  4th,  to  see  and  utilize  the  means 
of  happiness  which  lie  about  them  in  the  beauties  and 
splendor  of  nature;  5th,  what  the  democratic  nobility  is 
— fidelity  to  all  forms  of  duty  which  demand  courage, 
self-denial,  and  zeal,  and  loyal  devotion  to  the  demo- 
cratic ideals  of  freedom,  serviceableness,  unity,  tolera- 
tion, public  justice,  and  public  joyfulness." 

This  broad  platform  for  moral  instruction  I  have 
quoted  by  way  of  contrast  to  the  narrower  list  some- 
times enumerated  as  the  "school  virtues"  and  insisted 
upon  instead  of  what  may  be  called  the  "  life  duties." 
The  danger  to  the  child  is  great;  he  is  "born  with  a 
natural  desire  to  give  out,  to  do,  to  serve."  The  school 
virtues  enumerated  by  Harris  are:  (1)  regularity,  (2) 
punctuality,  (3)  silence,  (4)  industry.  White  adds:  (5) 
neatness,    (6)    accuracy,    (7)    obedience.     But    Charles 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      719 

Edward  Rugh,  in  the  famous  California  prize  essay, 
points  out  that  the  successful  bank  robber  would  practise 
all  of  them  in  a  single  robbery!  These  are  the  mint  and 
anise  and  cumin,  tithes  proper  to  pay,  but  let  us  not, 
even  with  adolescents,  neglect  the  weightier  matters  of 
the  law;  or,  if  they  are  to  be  considered  fundamental  to 
the  well-being  of  society,  let  us  admit  it,  but  let  us  bear 
in  mind  that,  if  the  school  is  to  develop  these  good  habits, 
all  of  them  should  have  become  second  nature  to  the 
child  by  the  time  it  reaches  adolescence. 

The  Newer  Aim  of  Education.— The  aim  of  education, 
if  it  is  to  include  secondary  education — and  that  is  now 
beyond  the  stage  of  argument  with  all  but  those  whose 
faces  are  set  hopelessly  backward — is  something  more  and 
broader  and  higher  than  the  development  of  the  virtues 
named  above,  important  as  they  are.  Social  efficiency, 
in  the  words  of  W.  C.  Bagley,  "is  becoming  the  con- 
scious aim  of  all  educational  effort."  He  insists,  and  in 
our  saner  moments  we  all  believe,  that,  if  those  who  come 
to  the  teacher  for  instruction  and  training  act  in  no  way 
more  effectively  after  they  leave  him  than  they  would 
have  acted  had  they  never  come  under  his  influence, 
then  his  work  as  a  teacher  must  be  adjudged  a  failure. 
Washington  Gladden,  in  pleading  for  effective  educa- 
tional unity,  asserts  that,  no  matter  what  the  intellec- 
tual achievements  of  the  schools  may  be,  they  shall  be 
deemed  to  have  wholly  failed  of  their  highest  function 
if  they  do  not  give  us  good  men  and  women.  Character 
is  surely  the  ultimate  aim  of  education,  and  if  the  imme- 
diate aim  of  the  successful  completion  of  the  task  of  the 
hour,  of  the  day,  or  the  course  is  not  kept  in  direct  line 
with  this  the  ultimate  aim  it  is  time  to  inquire  what  is 
wrong  with  the  system. 


720  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Why  Moral  Training  Is  Necessary. — The  pupil  should 
be  trained  for  efficiency — to  make  a  living;  the  industrial 
aim  is  a  right  one,  but  the  state  insists  that  this  is  not 
all.  It  is  not  sufficient  in  a  democracy  that  the  educa- 
tion furnished  by  the  state  should  be  such  as  to  prevent 
its  products  from  becoming  economic  charges  upon  the 
body  politic;  they  must  be  trained  to  be  fit  for  citizen- 
ship, and  this  training  is  largely  a  moral  training.  It  is 
necessary  for  the  state  to  see  to  this  if  all  inhabitants 
are  trained  to  become  citizens.  There  must  be  moral 
training,  and  the  state  cannot  halt  because  of  the  sensi- 
tiveness of  this  or  that  avowed  religious  or  moral  in- 
stitution.    De  minimis  non  curat  lex. 

Patriotism  as  a  Basis. — The  state's  education  must 
develop  patriotism  as  a  moral  quality,  and  all  the  means 
to  that  end  are  commendable  moral  agencies.  No 
words  of  Lincoln  are  more  to  be  pondered  by  those  who 
train  the  young,  whether  parent,  priest,  or  pedagogue, 
than  these:  "I  like  to  see  a  man  proud  of  the  place  in 
which  he  lives.  I  like  to  see  a  man  who  lives  in  it  so 
that  his  place  will  be  proud  of  him.  Be  honest,  but 
hate  no  one;  overturn  a  man's  wrong-doing,  but  do  not 
overturn  him  unless  it  must  be  done  in  overturning  his 
wrong.  Stand  with  anybody  that  stands  right.  Stand 
with  him  while  he  is  right,  and  part  with  him  when  he 
goes  wrong." 

One  of  the  epoch-making  state  documents  of  all  time 
is  the  Japanese  Imperial  Rescript  of  1890,  which  makes 
patriotism  the  basis  of  the  moral  training  consciously 
inserted  in  their  school  system  as  the  one  thing  lacking 
when  that  wonderful  new-born  nation  borrowed  the 
American  public  school  system.  It  behooves  us  to  see 
whether  we  can  do  better  than  to  imitate  our  imitators. 


MORAL  AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      721 

The  ground  for  Roosevelt's  square  deal  in  governmen- 
tal affairs  was  that  it  is  demanded  by  the  welfare  of 
the  community.  Our  patriotism  is  ready  to  hand  as  a 
means  of  moral  training,  for,  as  pointed  out  by  Miinster- 
berg,  it  is  unique  in  that  it  is  directed  neither  to  the  soil 
nor  the  citizen  but  to  a  system  of  ideas — and  ideals — 
respecting  society,  and  is  a  community  of  purpose  for 
their  realization. 

The  most  dangerous  element  in  the  later  Roman  re- 
public was  that  group  of  youth  corrupted  by  personal 
vices  and  absorbed  by  schemes  for  overthrowing  their 
country — dissipated  and  disloyal.  As  Charles  Whitney 
Williams  declares,  patriotism  is  the  one  social  force  fit- 
ted above  all  others  for  accomplishing  the  gravest  con- 
ceivable purposes.  The  great  wisdom  of  Bismarck  con- 
sisted largely  in  his  clear  recognition  of  this  truth.  It 
is  here  that  Christianity,  as  it  is  developed  in  the  modern 
world,  has  been  too  individualistic  to  exert  the  greatest 
force  where  broad  social  unity  in  effort  and  effect  is 
vital. 

Recognition  by  the  State. — The  statute-books  of  the 
various  States  not  only  recognize  the  importance  of 
morality  as  a  foundation  for  the  character  necessary  to 
safe  citizenship,  but  in  many  cases  they  require  the 
teacher  to  impress  upon  his  pupils,  both  by  example  and 
precept,  directly  and  indirectly,  the  principles  of  truth, 
justice,  morality,  patriotism,  and  refinement,  which  reach 
to  the  roots  of  character  and,  therefore,  to  the  fruit  of 
safe  citizenship. 

These  actual  laws  may  be  safely  and  wisely  taught, 
even  directly,  to  the  youth  without  stirring  up  religious 
dissension.  The  spirit  of  these  laws  cannot  be  miscon- 
strued. 


722  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Have  the  Schools  Done  Well? — The  specific  work  of 
the  public  school  for  years  has  been  recognized  in  vari- 
ous ways  as  training  for  citizenship,  and  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  school  has  done  its  work  well  in  giving 
the  state  trained  minds.  It  is  mainly  true  that  what- 
ever ills  in  this  regard  America  is  suffering  from  they  are 
not  ills  that  the  public  schools,  under  this  conception  of 
their  function,  are  supposed  to  remedy. 

The  Broader  Conception. — There  is,  however,  a  big- 
ger conception  of  the  purpose  of  the  schools  than  either 
the  industrial  aim  or  the  training  directly  for  the  duties 
of  citizenship.  The  old  view  of  training  for  citizenship, 
of  fitting  the  young  to  vote  intelligently  and  to  have  a 
disposition  to  obey  the  laws,  is  too  narrow  a  view  of  the 
function  of  the  public  school.  In  the  words  of  Dewey: 
"The  child  is  an  organic  whole,  intellectually,  socially, 
and  morally  as  well  as  physically."  He  is  to  be  "not 
only  a  voter  and  a  subject  of  law,  but  also  a  member  of 
a  family,  probably  a  parent,  also  a  worker;  furthermore, 
he  is  to  be  a  member  of  some  neighborhood  or  commu- 
nity and  must  contribute  to  the  values  of  life  and  add  to 
the  decencies  and  graces  of  civilization  wherever  he  is." 

Preparation  for  this  variety  of  function  means  "  train- 
ing in  science,  art,  and  history;  in  the  command  of 
fundamental  methods  of  inquiry  and  the  fundamental 
tools  of  intercourse  and  communication.  It  means  a 
trained  mind,  a  sound  body,  a  skilful  eye  and  hand; 
and  no  less  important,  it  means  the  development  of 
habits  of  industry,  perseverance,  and  general  service- 
ableness."  The  product  of  this  preparation  must,  in 
America,  be  democratic  and  progressive;  we  must  not 
be  deceived  into  the  silly  position  apparently  main- 
tained by  some  advocates  of  vocational  education  of 


MORAL  AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      723 

educating  the  child  for  any  fixed  station  in  life.  Not 
only  the  industrial  but  the  cultural  aim  is  the  American 
ideal.     Here,  as  so  often,  "the  answer  to  which  is  both." 

And  how  closely  all  these  aims  are  linked!  Witmer 
suggests  that  the  first  reader  instead  of  starting  off,  "  See 
the  kitty!"  should  start  off,  "See  the  tooth-brush!  "  and 
he  makes  a  convincing  argument  in  defence  of  his  sug- 
gestion. 

The  School  and  the  Family. — Here  we  come  to  the 
question  of  the  overloaded  teacher.  Shall  all  these 
things  be  loaded  upon  the  poor  teacher?  Must  the 
schools  be  charged  with  the  physical,  intellectual,  social, 
moral  welfare  of  the  child?  Shall  he  be  farmed  out 
utterly  to  the  school?  What  are  we  coming  to?  Is 
America  a  modern  Sparta?  Nay,  verily — not  in  the 
opinion  or  wish  of  the  writer,  as  has  been  sufficiently 
shown  already.  The  family,  for  its  own  sake,  must 
retain  and  live  up  to  its  responsibilities  in  all  these  re- 
gards, but  the  school,  a  special  institution  established 
by  the  family  and  taken  over  by  the  state  to  perform 
more  conveniently  and  economically  and  effectively  cer- 
tain functions  of  the  family  and  to  provide  the  state 
with  material  for  the  safe  handling  of  self-government, 
may  reasonably  modify  its  methods,  its  curriculum,  its 
standard  of  training  for  teachers,  its  attitude  toward 
physical,  political,  and  social  as  well  as  moral  problems 
so  as  to  accomplish  two  things:  ist,  to  fit  the  child  for 
life  in  all  its  many  phases  of  one  organic  whole;  and,  2d, 
to  improve,  through  this  changed  and  broadened  con- 
ception of  the  school's  function,  the  work  that  it  does  in 
the  older  and  more  beaten  paths  of  travel.  Moral 
training  must  be  part  and  parcel  of  all  the  processes  of 
education.     Character  making  is  the  aim  of  it  all,  from 


724  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

algebra  to  athletics.  Every  problem,  every  element, 
every  equipment,  every  activity  must  have  and  will  have 
part  in  the  work  of  moral  agencies. 

Material  Moral  Agencies. — The  arrangement  and 
equipment  of  a  building,  the  selection  and  training  of  a 
janitor — every  material  element  is  a  moral  element  and, 
whether  we  will  or  no,  enters  into  the  moral  training  of 
the  children  and  youth  in  the  schools. 

Direct  Moral  Instruction. — The  battle  as  to  direct 
moral  instruction  in  the  public  schools  has  been  fought 
with  varying  result  and  still  rages.  If  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, the  latest  utterance  of  G.  Stanley  Hall  is  in  favor 
of  talks  by  the  teachers  to  the  school  on  a  list  of  moral 
subjects,  which  he  characterizes  as  "nothing  more  nor 
less  than  conscience  building."  Many  lists  and  many 
suggestions  have  been  presented,  and  yet  the  consensus 
of  opinion  seems  to  confirm  R.  R.  Reeder's  belief  that 
"one  moral  experience  is  worth  more  than  a  score  of 
formal  lessons  on  morality."  There  is  practical  wisdom 
in  the  advice  of  the  Widow  O' Callahan  quoted  by  Mar- 
garet E.  Shallenberger:  "It  is  my  belafe  that's  what 
makes  some  b'ys  so  unruly — takin'  'em  at  the  wrong 
toime.  Sure  and  b'ys  has  their  feelin's  loike  the  rest 
of  the  world.  Spake  to  'em  by  their  lone  silves  when 
you've  aught  to  say  to  'em.  There's  niver  a  man  of 
'em  all  would  loike  being  bawled  at  in  a  crowd  about 
somethin'  that  needed  thinkin'  over."  Sound  pedagogy 
— because  it  recognizes  boy  (and  girl)  nature  as  it  is. 
It  is  not  a  loss  of  time  to  quote  here  some  of  the  "ways" 
suggested  by  this  writer  in  which  we  should  train  for 
right  conduct  (and  this  for  high  schools  in  particular) : 

i.  In  a  way  to  arouse  and  sustain  thought. 
2.  In  a  way  to  produce  excitement. 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      725 

3.  In  a  way  to  stimulate  good  action  rather  than  emphasize 
the  bad. 

4.  In  a  way  to  develop  proper  humility. 

5.  In  a  way  to  develop  responsibility  for  the  welfare  of  others. 

6.  In  a  way  to  form  standards  of  conduct  applicable  anywheie. 

7.  In  a  way  to  produce  right  conduct. 

Each  of  the  above  might  furnish  a  theme  for  a  chap- 
ter, but  the  second  and  fifth  are  of  especial  practical 
importance. 

Make  It  Attractive. — A  moral  truth,  a  rule  of  conduct 
must  be  given  an  attractive  aspect  if  it  is  to  win  respect 
from  the  unsettled  soul  of  the  adolescent.  Being  good 
and  doing  good  are  often  made  too  tame.  There  is  no 
reason  at  all  why  the  exercise  of  good  conduct  should  not 
often  be  very  exciting.  Let  us  not  forget  the  hankering 
for  a  hero  that  belongs  to  this  age.  If  surprises  are  not 
possible  in  the  routine  of  school  life,  we  may  utilize 
holiday  occasions,  music,  dramatics,  and  turn  their 
powerful  influence  in  this  direction. 

Daily  Work  as  a  Moral  Agency. — There  is  nothing 
more  clearly  established  by  the  experience  of  real  teach- 
ers, whether  it  be  generally  accepted  by  theorists  or  not, 
than  that  the  daily  routine  of  school  life,  if  directed  in  the 
right  way,  may  become  a  moral  agency  as  powerful,  as 
insistent,  as  effective  as  any  other  influence  that  comes 
into  the  life  of  a  boy  or  girl.  When  a  study  is  taught 
as  a  group  of  facts  to  be  learned  or  as  a  task  to  be  ac- 
complished it  may  be  of  very  little  ultimate  moral  value, 
but  when  it  is  taught  "as  a  mode  of  understanding  it 
has  positive  ethical  import."  The  well-conducted  reci- 
tation is  a  social  event,  and  in  it,  as  in  every  social  event, 
is  the  working  of  a  moral  agency.  "The  power  to 
handle  spelling  and  numbers  and  geography,"  says  Rugh 


726  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

(and  we  might  substitute  rhetoric  and  algebra  and 
botany),  "with  moral  results  cannot  be  sent  to  a  teacher 
by  mail,  by  essay,  or  by  book.  It  comes  by  insight,  but 
it  is  within  easy  reach  of  teacher  and  pupil."  The 
ethical  value  of  a  school  study  is  the  moral  force  of  the 
teacher  presenting  the  subject.  Illustrations  abound 
showing  how  various  studies  may  furnish  such  training 
without  its  being  forced  or  repellent;  and  the  mechanical 
routine  and  necessary  discipline  of  the  school  afford, 
even  without  recognition,  endless  opportunity  for  moral 
training. 

Manual  Training. — A  review  in  the  Elementary  School 
Teacher  for  February,  1909,  of  the  "Report  of  an  In- 
ternational Inquiry,"  edited  by  M.  E.  Sadler,  speaks  of 
numerous  suggestions  made  by  various  writers  and 
thinkers  in  response  to  inquiries  and  closes  by  stating 
that  Wm.  James  is  the  only  one  who  really  touches  the 
question,  and  his  contribution  is  short:  "I  should  in- 
crease the  amount  of  manual  or  motor  training  relatively 
to  the  book  work  and  not  let  the  latter  predominate  till 
the  age  of  fifteen  or  sixteen."  The  carrying  out  of  that 
suggestion  would,  in  the  opinion  of  many  careful  stu- 
dents of  school  problems,  result  in  a  great  lessening  of 
the  distaste  for  school  work  and  responsibilities  among 
adolescents  and  would  have  a  definite  and  strong  influ- 
ence in  the  development  of  moral  character.  Says  John 
Dewey:  "Manual  training  is  more  than  manual;  it  is 
more  than  intellectual;  in  the  hands  of  any  good  teacher 
it  lends  itself  easily,  and  almost  as  a  matter  of  course, 
to  development  of  social  habits."  Hartmann  said, 
as  quoted  by  Superintendent  Mott  in  a  paper  before 
the  National  Education  Association  in  1906:  "It  ap- 
pears that  the  efforts  of  the  mind  to  control  the  hand  in 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      727 

well-directed  manual  work  are  repaid  a  hundredfold 
not  only  in  clearer  insight  into  details  of  form  and  com- 
position, of  proportions  and  relationship,  of  materials 
used  and  of  objects  turned  out  but  also  in  nobler  aspira- 
tions, higher  hopes,  greater  firmness  of  purpose,  calmer 
self-reliance,  and  a  nearer  approach  to  an  all-sided  free- 
dom." 

A  List  of  Practical  Suggestions. — There  are  scores  of 
practical  suggestions  in  connection  with  the  various  sides 
of  high  school  life,  all  of  which  will  repay  careful  study 
and  experiment  on  the  part  of  loyal,  intelligent,  and 
open-minded  teachers. 

Other  Suggestions. — There  are  interesting  and  prac- 
tical suggestions  by  Ella  Lyman  Cabot,  among  which 
may  be  mentioned  debates,  physical  training,  instruc- 
tion in  business  etiquette,  and  the  need  for  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  men  in  any  high  school  corps  of  teachers. 

Social  Experimentation. — The  experiments  made  in 
meeting  the  social  and  so  the  moral  problem  at  many 
schools,  and  most  conspicuously  at  the  University  High 
School  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  are  presented  in  a 
readable  and  suggestive  article  by  the  head  of  that 
school,  Franklin  W.  Johnson,  in  Religious  Education  for 
February,  191 2.  One  of  the  most  important  suggestions 
in  this  valuable  paper  is  the  statement  that  the  main 
thing  we  in  America  have  to  learn  from  the  English 
schools  is  the  attitude  of  teachers  toward  the  social  life 
of  the  pupil,  with  the  equally  interesting  remark,  that 
"it  is  only  fair  to  expect  that  time  and  effort  spent  by 
teachers  in  these  directions  shall  be  taken  into  consider- 
ation in  the  amount  of  work  assigned  in  the  more  formal 
work  of  teaching."  Another  suggestion  comes  from  a 
statement  regarding  the  experiment  of  directing  the  stu- 


728  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

dents  of  that  school  to  a  share  in  the  University  settle- 
ment work. 

The  carefully  planned  and  directed  formation  of  clubs 
with  real  purposes  under  the  intelligent  and  sympathetic 
guidance  of  teachers  satisfies  the  natural  hankering  at 
this  period  of  life  for  organization,  stimulates  worthy 
aims,  and  avoids  the  evil  effects  of  the  spontaneous, 
mushroom  growths  which  are  known  as  high  school 
fraternities  and  sororities. 

What  is  sometimes  referred  to  as  the  Grand  Rapids 
plan  is  treated  fully  in  another  chapter  of  this  volume 
and  need  not  be  dwelt  on  here. 

Preparation  of  Teachers. — The  classification  of  meth- 
ods followed  in  the  training  of  teachers  for  responsibili- 
ties in  moral  training  is  presented  by  W.  C.  Bagley  in 
Religious  Education  for  February,  191 1.  It  shows  that 
there  is  a  lack  of  thorough  mastery  of  the  problem  on 
the  part  of  those  having  in  charge  the  exceedingly  im- 
portant matter  of  leading  would-be  teachers  to  an  in- 
telligent recognition  of  and  preparation  for  this  part  of 
their  work. 

Miscellaneous  Suggestions.— There  is  a  wider  range 
of  suggestions  of  very  unequal  value,  presented  by 
Principal  C.  E.  Rugh  in  the  same  volume,  which  came 
to  him  from  California  schoolmen  as  the  result  of  a 
request  for  such  suggestions.  The  study  of  morals  by 
teachers,  the  planning  that  pupils  shall  undertake  the 
care  of  poor  children,  the  development  of  playgrounds, 
personal  supervision  of  all  school  activities — these  are 
among  the  most  important.  This  paper  has  an  inter- 
esting account  of  how  the  pool-room  evil  was  dealt  with 
successfully  by  a  wise  high  school  principal  in  a  town  of 
40,000. 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      729 

Vocational  Guidance. — A  practical  suggestion  by 
Principal  F.  M.  Giles,  of  Dekalb,  111.,  is  that  the  per- 
sonal discussion  between  teacher  and  pupil  as  to  the 
choice  of  a  life-work  affords  an  excellent  opportunity  for 
the  conveying  of  moral  lessons. 

The  School  Must  Be  Made  a  Social  Institution. — The 
summing  up  of  the  best  thought  of  late  writers  on  this 
subject  and  the  outcome  of  careful  experimentation  in 
many  places  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  until  the  school 
is  viewed  and  organized  and  operated  as  a  social  insti- 
tution it  will  fail  of  securing  the  best  results  in  its  at- 
tempts to  co-operate  with  other  agencies  for  moral 
training.  When  thus  organized  and  operated  the  high 
school,  without  interfering  in  the  least  with  its  function 
in  training  and  developing  the  minds  of  pupils  and  help- 
ing them  to  mastery  of  certain  fields  of  knowledge,  may 
do  much  to  help  in  establishing  and  strengthening  the 
influence  of  what  Bagley  has  entitled  the  "  emotionalized 
prejudices,"  which  are  the  salvation  of  all  of  us  under 
sudden  or  repeated  temptation  to  wrong  acts.  "It  is 
only  as  the  school  becomes  organized  as  a  social  whole 
and  as  the  child  recognizes  his  conduct  as  a  reflection 
of  that  society  that  it  will  be  possible  to  have  any  moral 
training  in  our  schools."  x 

Student  Government. — Various  experiments  have 
been  tried  in  the  way  of  training  adolescents  to  fitness 
for  self-government  by  placing  the  responsibility  for  the 
discipline  of  the  school  actually  upon  their  shoulders 
and  thus  seemingly  making  a  democracy  out  of  a  school. 
The  proposition  is  a  tempting  one  to  many,  but  in  the 
judgment  of  the  writer  it  is  fraught  with  danger  and,  if 
used  at  all,  should  be  handled  with  constant  reference  to 

1  George  H.  Mead,  in  Elementary  School  Teacher  for  July,  1909. 


730  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  fact  that  the  real  responsibility  is  with  the  teacher 
who  cannot  shirk  it  by  devices  of  student  self-govern- 
ment. Furthermore,  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason 
why  the  school  dealing  with  those  who  are  young,  weak, 
and  inexperienced  should  be  turned  into  a  republic  or  a 
town  meeting  any  more  than  the  family  should  be,  a 
part  of  whose  work  the  school  is  established  to  do.  The 
Creator  made  all  people  young  to  start  with ;  made  them 
little  and  helpless  and  ignorant  and  inexperienced.  Ac- 
cording to  Fiske's  discovery,  that  was  for  the  purpose 
of  developing,  through  the  extraordinarily  long  period  of 
infancy,  the  moral  sense,  under  training  and  the  power 
of  love.  The  artificial  creation  of  a  governmental  ma- 
chine composed  of  those  units  and  set  going  without 
control  or  authority  is  as  absurd  as  the  establishment  of 
a  self-teaching  geometry  class.  The  really  wise  teacher 
need  not  be  led  astray  by  these  false  gods,  but  may  de- 
vise methods  by  which  authority  is  maintained,  obedi- 
ence developed,  and  at  the  same  time  a  growing  sense  of 
responsibility  brought  toward  the  perfection  of  manhood. 

Public  Opinion  in  Schools. — These  experiments  are, 
one  and  all,  practical  efforts  to  take  advantage  of  the 
strong  regard  of  the  adolescent  for  the  opinion  of  his 
fellows.  In  this  connection  we  should  bear  in  mind 
this  line  of  thought:  (a)  The  adolescent  is  peculiarly 
sensitive  to  the  good  opinion  of  his  fellows — those  of 
his  own  age — to  school  tradition,  school  sentiments,  and 
ideals,  (b)  But  public  opinion  in  the  schools  is,  or  ought 
to  be  (and  can  be),  in  great  measure,  the  teacher's  opin- 
ion—the expression  of  his  personality — crystallized  in 
the  minds  of  his  pupils. 

The  Spirit  of  the  School. — This  is  what  I  mean  when 
I  speak  of  that  all-powerful  influence  "  the  spirit  of  the 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      731 

school";  not  exactly  "school  spirit,"  yet  a  something 
intangible  but  mighty  which  it  should  be  the  first  care 
of  a  principal,  supported  by  all  of  his  teachers  who  are 
gifted  to  respond  to  his  ideals,  to  develop  and  maintain. 
It  will  be  a  means  to  his  hand  for  attaining  all  that  is 
worth  while  in  the  work  of  the  school.  It  will  grow  and 
develop  and  become  deeply  seated.  It  will  prove  itself 
an  incalculable  and  far-reaching  blessing  to  the  com- 
munity. Soon  these  boys  and  girls  will  be  what  we 
commonly  call  the  community. 

School  Sports. — Right  in  this  connection  comes  in 
the  importance  not  only  of  the  regulation  but  the  en- 
couragement, study,  control,  and  utilization  of  school 
sports  as  a  mighty  moral  agency  because  of  their  rela- 
tion to  the  possibilities  in  developing  the  "  spirit  of  the 
school." 

The  teaching  of  self-restraint  and  control  of  temper 
in  well-handled  athletic  games  is  of  great  value  to  the 
youth.  The  Moseley  Commission  made  the  criticism 
upon  American  school  sports  that  "  the  boy  in  America 
is  not  being  brought  up  to  punch  another  boy's  head  or 
to  stand  having  his  own  punched  in  a  healthy  and  proper 
manner."  This  report  must  have  been  made  without 
a  careful  study  of  American  football,  which,  if  wisely 
handled,  secures  the  same  effect  in  training  that  this 
"head-punching"  criticism  had  in  mind.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  observe  that  warm  friendships  have  developed  be- 
tween boys  of  opposing  teams  from  acquaintance  gained 
in  the  fiercest  of  football  contests.  Unselfishness  is  an- 
other great  lesson  that  is  learned,  and  that  which  is  so 
often  lacking  in  men  of  English  race  and  so  essential  in 
a  self-governing  state,  the  habit  of  co-operating  with 
others.     The  matter  is  put  in  a  nutshell  from  another 


732  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

point  of  view  by  Mr.  Paton,  high  master  of  Manchester 
grammar-school,  when  he  says:  "His  (the  boy's)  native 
combativeness,  which  if  neglected  would  make  him  a 
hooligan  and  if  repressed  makes  him  a  coward,  is  thus 
utilized  to  make  him  a  man." 

The  above  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  lesson  which  so  many  adults — both  parents 
and  teachers — have  yet  to  learn,  that  it  is  wise  and 
necessary  to  recognize  and  utilize  the  traits  and  quali- 
ties and  ambitions  and  likings  of  the  adolescent  for  his 
training  instead  of  frowning  upon  and  criticising  him 
for  being — for  a  short  period  of  his  life — no  longer  a 
child,  and  not  yet  a  man  or  woman,  but  an  adoles- 
cent. 

The  University  and  the  Teacher. — David  R.  Porter 
calls  attention  to  another  fact  which  should  be  studied 
and  utilized  more  intelligently  than  it  has  been  thus  far, 
and  that  is  that  no  one  commands  the  attention  and 
influences  the  feeling  of  a  high  school  boy  or  girl  so 
much  as  a  college  man  or  woman.  High  school  teachers 
ought  to  be,  as  they  are,  recruited  from  the  ranks  of  the 
colleges  and  universities  for  that  reason  if  for  no  other, 
and  in  their  preparation  for  their  profession  they  are 
better  off  if  they  escape  the  common  frost-bitten  effect 
of  the  highly  trained  specialist  without  losing  the  com- 
mand and  power  that  high  training  in  a  special  field 
can  give. 

The  Teacher  the  Chief  Moral  Agency. — Every  one  of 
the  agencies  referred  to  is  to  be  made  operative  and  to 
secure  its  highest  effectiveness  through  the  agency  of 
the  teacher,  who  is  always  and  everywhere  the  chief 
equipment  of  the  school  whether  for  intellectual  or  for 
moral   training,   whether   the  boy  and  girl   are   to  be 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      733 

"fitted  for  a  vocation,"  "fitted  for  citizenship,"  or 
"fitted  to  live." 

The  School  Board's  Function. — H.  Suzzallo  has  called 
attention,  as  many  writers  have,  to  the  plain  distinction 
that  must  be  made  between  what  matters  fall  properly 
to  the  charge  of  the  public,  voiced  through  the  legis- 
lators and  boards  of  education,  and  what  must  be  left 
to  the  teacher.  Broad  policies  and  ultimate  ends  are 
to  be  determined  by  the  former;  but  "the  administra- 
tion of  the  schools,  the  making  of  the  course  of  study, 
the  selection  of  texts,  the  prescription  of  methods  of 
teaching,  these  are  matters  with  which  the  people  or 
their  representatives  upon  boards  of  education  cannot 
deal  save  with  danger  of  becoming  mere  meddlers." 

The  Change  in  the  Teacher's  Status. — The  teacher  is 
set  on  a  pinnacle  in  the  modern  world,  at  least  in  the 
sense  of  being  in  the  public  eye  and  subject  to  criticism. 
When  Epictetus  asked  whether,  if  the  worst  should  come, 
a  man  could  not  transcribe  writings,  teach  children,  or 
be  a  doorkeeper,  he  spoke  in  proper  old-world  ignorance 
of  what  the  function  and  status  of  an  American  school 
teacher  was  to  become! 

The  Duty  of  the  State  in  Training  Teachers.— With 
this  higher  station  and  this  larger  responsibility,  it  be- 
hooves the  state  to  provide  better  than  it  has  done  thus 
far  for  the  training  of  its  teachers.  It  shoLild  provide 
and  require  more  careful  and  thorough  professional 
training.  We  ought  to  insist  on  more  than  a  bachelor's 
degree  as  sufficient  preparation  for  a  high  school  teacher. 
The  universities  must  provide  "schools  of  education" 
and  dignify  them  by  all  the  means  available.  The 
pedagogical  training  for  a  high  school  teacher  must 
more  and  more  come  to  include  careful  study  of  the  psy- 


734  THE   MODERN   HIGH    SCHOOL 

chology  of  adolescence  and  the  laws  and  agencies  that 
govern  moral  training.  Let  us  hope  also  that  something 
will  come  to  introduce  into  such  preparation  an  antidote 
to  a  certain  solemn  priggishness  which  seems  sometimes 
to  characterize  the  attitude  of  persons  who  have  gone 
through  courses  that  are  supposed  to  correspond  to  my 
suggestion  just  made.  Humor  is  a  moral  tonic,  and  the 
sense  of  it  seems  to  have  been  crushed  out  of  some  who 
are  called  teachers.  The  sad  picture  of  children  and 
youth  given  over  into  the  care  of  these  denatured  speci- 
mens of  pedagogical  product  would  bring  tears  to  the 
Olympians.  Let  me  iterate  and  reiterate  the  need  of  a 
hero  for  the  guidance  of  the  adolescent  in  the  dim  paths 
that  lead  to  morality.  And  his  hero,  if  the  youth's  own 
imagination  were  to  create  him  to  order,  would  be 
neither  gloomy  nor  impervious  to  the  influences  of  the 
saving  grace  which  we  call  humor.  Remember  the 
origin  of  the  word;  without  it  virtue  is  jejune  and  very 
hard  for  the  adolescent  soul  to  absorb. 

Meeting  the  Situation  as  It  Is. — Finally,  once  more 
let  me  point  to  the  necessity  of  recognizing  and  utilizing 
the  qualities  that  are,  rather  than  grumbling  at  those 
that  are  not  yet.  If  the  high  school  freshman  is  loyal 
to  his  instinct  not  to  "snitch,"  do  not  with  elephantine 
tact  trample  this  tender  shoot  of  virtue  by  "expelling" 
him  forsooth  because  he  will  not  tell.  This  poor  little 
virtue,  like  Audrey,  may  be  an  ill-favored  thing,  but 
'tis  his  own,  and  it  may  grow,  if  the  gardener  be  wise, 
to  a  plant  of  "loyalty  even  to  loyalty,"  to  use  the  happy 
phrase  of  Royce. 

Training  by  Means  of  Service. — No  other  discovery  is 
more  surprising  and  more  delightful  to  the  anxious  ex- 
perimenter with  young  souls  than  to  discover  that  these 


MORAL   AGENCIES   AND   THE   STUDENT      735 

hard,  sour,  little,  unripe  apples  have  real  seeds  in  them. 
Patience  will  discover  to  you,  O  teacher,  as  it  has  to 
others,  that  these  youngsters  may  easily  and  gladly  be 
trained  to  self-sacrifice  and  service  for  others,  a  real 
example  of  the  highest  of  virtues,  more  attractive  often 
to  them  than  the  humdrum  virtues,  appealing  as  it  does 
to  their  sense  of  the  heroic.  Such  training  wisely  man- 
aged is  the  finest  and  most  powerful  of  all  the  moral 
agencies  that  affect  the  high  school  student. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THE  RELIGIOUS   LIFE    OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL 

STUDENT 

Emil  Carl  Wilm,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF   PHILOSOPHY   AND   EDUCATION,   WELLS   COLLEGE 

The  Religious  Influences  of  the  High  School,  Direct 
and  Indirect.— The  formal  influences  affecting  the  re- 
ligious life  of  the  high  school  student  group  themselves 
naturally  into  two  classes:  (i)  those  directly  exerted  by 
the  school  itself,  through  the  studies,  the  instructing 
staff,  and  the  general  exercises,  and  (2)  influences  from 
other  institutional  agencies,  like  the  church  and  the 
Sunday-school,  which  seek  to  impart  ethical  and  re- 
ligious instruction  and  training  of  a  specific  and  supple- 
mentary type.  The  duties  of  the  high  school,  therefore, 
in  so  far  as  it  can  be  said  to  have  such  duties,  would  seem 
to  be:  (1)  to  organize  and  to  make  as  efficient  as  possible 
those  agencies  within  the  high  school  itself  which  may 
contribute  to  the  strengthening  and  enrichment  of  the 
religious  life  of  those  intrusted  to  its  care,  and  (2)  to 
co-operate  with  institutions,  like  the  church,  the  Sunday- 
school,  Christian  associations,  and  similar  institutions, 
which  are  aiming  at  the  same  ultimate  object  as  the 
school,  the  object  at  which  all  forms  of  educational  en- 
deavor must  ultimately  aim  if  they  are  to  justify  them- 
selves— the  building  of  character. 

736 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF  THE   STUDENT  737 

What  Are  Religion  and  Religious  Education? — The  dis- 
cussion of  the  relation  of  the  high  school  to  the  religious 
development  of  its  students  will,  I  think,  be  compara- 
tively fruitless  without  some  preliminary  understanding 
as  to  just  what  we  shall  mean  by  religion  and  by  religious 
education.  Most  of  the  current  discussions  of  the  prob- 
lem of  religious  education  are  thoroughly  vitiated  by  the 
entire  absence  of  any  clear  notions  of  what  the  discus- 
sions are  about,  or  of  what,  precisely,  we  are  trying  to 
achieve  when  we  are  engaged  in  so-called  religious  in- 
struction and  training.  The  majority  of  writers  either 
assume  a  knowledge  of  what  is  meant  by  religion  (a 
matter  which  has  taxed  the  best  powers  of  expert  stu- 
dents of  the  subject)  or  else  content  themselves  with 
vague  suggestions  of  religion  as  a  name  for  morality,  or 
as  a  certain  conception  of  God  and  of  man,  and  the  like.1 
In  the  spirit  of  the  mediaeval  monk,  therefore,  in  Mr. 
Chesterton's  book,  and  at  the  risk  of  being  unceremoni- 
ously jostled  by  those  who  are  anxious  to  get  on,  let 
us  first  undertake  some  analysis,  however  rough  and 
sketchy,  of  that  fact  or  form  of  consciousness  which  we 
call  religion. 

Religion  may  be  viewed,  objectively,  as  a  social  fact, 
as  a  name  for  the  church,  with  all  its  multiform  activi- 
ties, its  doctrines,  rites,  and  ceremonies.  These,  how- 
ever, as  is  evident  on  a  moment's  reflection,  do  not  stand 
by  themselves;  they  are  merely  the  outward  forms  and 
expressions  of  certain  inward  experiences  of  persons. 
Thus  theology  is  but  the  embodiment,  in  systematic  out- 
ward form,  of  the  religious  ideas  and  opinions  of  men 
given  to  reflection  upon  religious  objects;   religious  art 

'    '  For  a  typical  example  of  this  method  of  dealing  with  the  topic  read 
chap.  X,  Religion,  in  Sisson's  "The  Essentials  of  Character." 


738  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

and  religious  ceremony  are  the  outward  expressions  of 
religious  emotions;  the  social  and  philanthropic  activities 
of  the  church  are  the  organized  and  outward  expressions 
of  the  religious  impulse  to  service,  etc.  If  we  penetrate, 
therefore,  beneath  the  external  forms  through  which  re- 
ligion objectifies  and  expresses  itself  and  seek  for  the 
fundamental  fact  of  religion  itself,  without  which  religion 
as  an  institutional  and  social  form  would  not  exist  at 
all,  we  shall  come  upon  a  characteristic  state  of  mind,  a 
spiritual  attribute  of  persons,  a  fact  of  a  purely  psychic 
order. 

When  we  come  to  an  analysis  of  this  state  of  mind,  we 
find  it  to  be  something  very  complex  and  pervasive,  in- 
volving every  phase  of  activity  of  man's  many-sided  psy- 
chical nature.  Indeed,  the  most  common  error  in  our 
definitions  of  the  religious  consciousness  has  been  that 
we  have  viewed  it  too  narrowly,  as  a  set  of  theological 
beliefs,  or  as  an  emotional  attitude,  or  as  a  form  of  eth- 
ical endeavor,  and  the  like.  These  views  of  religion  do 
not  entirely  fail  of  their  purpose;  they  only  err  in  being 
too  simple,  too  exclusively  one-sided  to  express  so  com- 
plex and  many-featured  a  phenomenon  as  religion  really 
is.  Religion  is,  indeed,  a  theology,  and  it  involves  emo- 
tional attitudes  and  a  specific  form  of  conduct  or  life. 
But  it  is  not  either  of  these  things  exclusively;  it  is  all  of 
them  at  once.  It  will  be  well,  I  think,  to  take  a  para- 
graph or  two  to  make  this  a  little  clearer! 

Religion  as  a  Theoretical  World  View. — Religion  re- 
presents, in  the  first  place,  a  certain  Weltanschauung,  a 
certain  view  of  the  universe  which  purports  to  be  true. 
It  is,  indeed,  the  only  philosophy  of  the  world  and  of  life 
which  enjoys  anything  like  universality.  To  be  sure,  the 
view  of  the  world  which  it  represents  does  not  pretend 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF   THE   STUDENT  739 

to  possess  technical  adequacy  and  it  does  not  enjoy  the 
complete  sanction  of  the  philosophers  nor  of  the  schools. 
That,  however,  detracts  little  from  the  force  and  the 
finality  of  its  appeal  to  those  who  are  its  devotees. 
And  it  is  a  weighty  recommendation  of  the  methods 
of  common  sense  and  an  interesting  testimony  to  the 
sure-footedness  of  our  dumbest  and  most  inarticulate 
instincts  that  the  profoundest  philosophy  often  brings 
us  back  to  the  fundamental  things  of  religion.  For,  as 
Bacon  said,  "  it  is  true  that  a  little  philosophy  inclineth 
man's  mind  to  atheism;  but  depth  in  philosophy  bring- 
eth  men's  minds  about  to  religion." 

As  an  Ethical  Imperative. — But  what  is  true  of  any 
genuine  philosophy  of  life  vitally  held,  that  it  is  no  mere 
theoretic  structure  but  cuts  deeply  into  the  conduct  of 
life,  that  it  is  no  set  of  views  merely,  held,  as  it  were,  in 
the  hand,  but  is  enacted  and  lived,  is  pre-eminently  true 
of  religion.  While  it  is,  indeed,  on  one  of  its  sides,  a 
theory  of  life,  it  is  also  a  force  in  life.  Its  solution  of  the 
world  problem  is  not  merely  theoretical,  it  is  also  practi- 
cal. The  riddle  of  the  universe  is  for  it  not  only  an  in- 
tellectual problem,  an  enigma  to  be  resolved  by  reason, 
it  is  just  as  much  a  problem  of  conduct,  an  object  of  the 
will.  Religion  is  always  more  than  speculative;  it  is 
remedial  as  well.  It  is  an  ethical  imperative,  a  call  to 
duty,  a  programme  of  salvation.1  The  universal  asso- 
ciation of  morality  with  religion,  from  the  ancient  He- 
brews, who  ascribed  the  origin  of  the  moral  law  directly 
to  the  will  of  God,  to  Kant,  who  defined  religion 
outrightly  as  morality  conceived  as  divine  command, 
and  Wordsworth,  who  apostrophized  duty  as  the  "stern 

1Cf.  E.  C.  Wilm,  "The  Problem  of  Religion,"  especially  chaps.  II  and 
VIII. 


740  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

daughter  of  the  voice  of  God,"  bears  witness  to  the  close 
connection  which  exists  between  religion  and  the  con- 
cepts and  practices  of  morality.  Indeed,  so  conspicuous 
are  the  ethical  features  of  religion  that  the  description  of 
religion  given  by  St.  James,  however  unsatisfactory  it 
might  prove  to  the  psychological  analyst,  remains  for 
many  the  most  satisfactory  and  final  view  of  religion's 
true  nature:  "  Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before  God 
and  the  Father  is  this,  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  the 
widows  in  their  affliction,  and  to  keep  himself  unspotted 
from  the  world." 

Its  Imaginative  Redundancy. — There  is  still  a  third 
aspect  of  religion  which  is  so  conspicuous  as  to  be  no- 
ticeable even  in  the  most  cursory  examination  of  it. 
Mr.  G.  Lowes  Dickinson  has  suggested  this  aspect  in 
his  view  of  religion  as  any  attitude  toward  the  uni- 
verse which  is  "greatly  and  imaginatively  conceived."1 
Whether  its  imaginative  character  proves  to  be  a  truly 
differentiating  characteristic  of  religion  or  not,  there  can 
be  no  question  that  religion  has  always  contained  impor- 
tant imaginative  and  poetic  elements.  And  the  reason 
for  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  Man's  life  is  set  in  the  midst 
of  a  universe  incomparably  grand  and  unfathomable. 
His  every  problem  ends  in  a  mystery.  As  a  consequence 
of  his  intellectual  and  physical  impotence,  his  position 
in  the  universe  is  one  of  great  helplessness.  Beset  on 
every  side  by  forces  and  potencies  which  he  can  neither 
comprehend  nor  control,  the  central  problem  of  his  life 
becomes  one  of  salvation,  the  problem  of  escaping  from 
the  universal  burden — a  burden  of  ignorance,  of  fate,  of 
sin.2     Small  wonder,  then,  that  man  should  construct 

1  "  Religion,  A  Criticism  and  a  Forecast,"  chap.  III. 

2  Cf.  Royce,  "Sources  of  Religious  Insight." 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF  THE   STUDENT  741 

in  his  imagination  a  world  more  friendly  to  his  interests 
and  ideals  than  this  mundane  sphere  in  which  his  lot 
is  cast.  Religion  has  been  surpassingly  exuberant  in  the 
images  and  symbols  with  which  man  has  invested  and 
through  which  he  has  expressed  his  deepest  ethical 
needs  and  aspirations.  It  is  the  imaginative  wealth  of 
religion,  its  noble  redundancy,  the  very  thing  which 
makes  it  a  stumbling-block  to  sober  science,  which  ac- 
counts for  its  perennial  appeal  to  the  best  minds.  And 
nothing,  on  the  other  hand,  so  much  reveals  a  lack  of 
comprehension  of  the  true  nature  of  religion,  nothing  has 
so  completely  vitiated  religious  culture,  as  the  blunder 
of  mistaking  the  images  and  symbols  of  religion,  objects 
of  religious  faith  and  fancy,  for  objects  whose  existence 
can  be  proved  by  logical  demonstrations  which  satisfy 
the  intellect.  The  objects  of  religious  adoration  are, 
partly  at  least,  objects  of  faith,  not  of  proof;  creations  of 
the  will  and  of  the  imagination,  not  objects  of  the  logical 
understanding.1 

The  Problem  of  Religion  in  Public  Education. — It  is 
the  social  heritage  of  the  religious  ideas,  mandates,  and 
fancies  characteristic  of  any  given  civilization  which  con- 
stitutes the  religious  environment,  to  use  President  But- 
ler's term,2  into  which  the  child  passes  when  he  enters 
life  and  becomes  a  member  of  human  society.  Has 
the  school  a  duty  in  introducing  the  child  or  the  youth  to 
this  part  of  his  world,  to  this  portion  of  his  social  heritage  ? 
This  question  has,  singularly  enough,  often  been  an- 
swered in  the  negative,  and  for  reasons  which  I  shall 
wish  briefly  to  examine,  and,  if  possible,  to  refute. 

1  For  some  particularly  fine  remarks  on  the  dangers  of  confusing  fact 
and  fancy  in  religion,  see  Paulsen,  "System  der  Ethik,"  vol.  I,  pp.  437- 
443;   Engl,  tr.,  book  II,  chap.  VIII,  4. 

2  "The  Meaning  of  Education,"  I. 


742  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Difficulties  Due  to  Outworn  Conceptions  of  the  Object 
and  Methods  of  Religious  Education. — The  difficulty  of 
the  problem  of  religion  in  public  education,  particularly 
in  the  United  States,  where  religious  life  and  institutions 
are  endlessly  differentiated,  has  often  been  dwelt  upon. 
The  difficulty,  I  believe,  is  largely  gratuitous  and  avoid- 
able. It  is  a  difficulty  created,  on  the  one  side,  by  a 
somewhat  stiff  and  one-sided  conception  of  religion  it- 
self and,  on  the  other,  by  an  obsolete  view  of  the  proper 
methods  of  religious  instruction  and  training.  With  a 
disposition  of  these  initial  misconceptions,  the  so-called 
problem  of  religion  in  education  will  largely  solve  itself. 

Let  us  make  these  points  somewhat  clearer.  By  re- 
ligious education  was  formerly  meant,  and  still  is  widely 
meant,  the  inculcation  of  a  set  of  ready-made  theological 
dogmas  by  methods  of  didactic  instruction.  The  older- 
fashioned  methods  of  catechetical  instruction  illustrate 
both  the  matter  and  the  manner  of  traditional  religious 
instruction  in  its  most  typical  and  wide-spread  (and,  one 
is  tempted  to  say,  virulent)  form.  Now,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  State,  which  recognizes  and  protects  equally 
a  number  of  religious  sects  with  their  differing  theologies, 
the  prohibition  by  the  State  of  instruction  in  any  given 
system  of  theology  or  sectarian  doctrine  is  evidently  the 
only  logical  and  possible  course.  But  the  legal  veto  of 
doctrinal  instruction,  logical  and  appropriate  as  it  has 
been  in  the  past,  has,  thanks  to  the  progress  of  peda- 
gogical ideas  and  of  religious  liberalism,  become  largely 
unnecessary  and  useless.  In  other  words  (and  this  is  in 
a  way  the  central  point  of  my  whole  contention)  even  if 
there  were  no  legal  difficulties  in  the  way  of  didactic  in- 
struction in  theological  and  sectarian  doctrines,  no  mod- 
ern  student   of   education   and  of  educational  technic 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF   THE   STUDENT  743 

would  think  of  giving  such  instruction.  The  primary- 
objection  to  dogmatic  religious  instruction,  in  short,  is 
not  legal  or  theological,  but  pedagogical.  I  cannot  en- 
force my  point  better  than  by  repeating  a  passage  which 
I  have  printed  in  another  connection:  "The  most  serious 
blunder  of  all  religious  education  in  the  past  has  been 
that  it  has  sought  to  convey  to  the  pupil  formally  and 
didactically  certain  advanced  theological  ideas  for  which 
there  was  nothing  whatever  corresponding  in  his  own 
experience.  The  professions  of  faith  we  have  often  ex- 
acted of  children  have  too  often  been  professions  not 
of  their  own  faith  but  of  the  faith  of  some  theologian 
long  since  dead.  It  is,  of  course,  the  same  pedagogical 
error  that  has  been  committed  in  all  other  branches,  and 
if  we  have  blundered  more  seriously  in  religious  educa- 
tion than  in  other  branches  it  is  probably  due  to  the  fact 
that  we  have  regarded  theological  truths  as  somewhat 
more  important  than  other  kinds  of  truth.  Teaching 
everywhere  has  been  too  formal,  too  didactic,  too  direct; 
everywhere  has  it  furnished  the  child  too  exclusively 
with  words  and  too  little  with  experiences;  everywhere 
has  it  sought  too  much  to  convey  information  and  made 
too  little  of  the  child's  own  activities  in  observation  and 
inference.  Good  teaching,  especially  in  the  more  ele- 
mentary branches,  must  proceed  from  the  concrete  to 
the  abstract,  from  the  empirical  to  the  rational,  from 
facts  to  principles.  Religion,  ever  conservative,  has  no- 
toriously reversed  this  order.  Is  it  not  high  time  that 
we.  were  applying  to  the  most  important  of  all  our  con- 
cerns those  educational  principles  which  have  borne  such 
rich  fruit  in  other  branches?  We  must,  above  all,  see 
to  it  that  the  child  is  furnished  the  concrete  data  out  of 
which  he  will,  with  proper  adult  assistance,  construct  a 


744  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

view  of  the  world  which  shall  be  in  some  genuine  sense 
his  own,  instead  of  requiring  him  to  learn  by  rote  ab- 
stract formulas  which  his  experience  has  not  enabled  him 
to  assimilate.  If  we  do  not,  we  must  be  prepared  to 
expect  that  religion  will  remain  a  mere  department  of  the 
child's  life,  a  mere  accretion  which  will  be  sloughed  off 
just  as  soon  as  the  child  passes  out  from  under  the  im- 
mediate influence  of  his  religious  guardians.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  religious  life  is  based  upon  the  solid  rock 
of  the  child's  experiences,  as  gained  in  life  and  through 
his  studies,  nothing  will  be  able  to  shake  it  from  its  se- 
cure foundations.  It  will  have  become  an  organic  part 
of  life  itself,  and  it  can  never  be  disengaged  from  the 
other  genuine  elements  of  the  child's  culture  so  long  as 
life  itself  remains."  x 

Significance  of  the  Secular  Curriculum  for  Religious 
Culture. — If,  therefore,  the  question  is  asked,  What  is 
the  Lemstoff,  what  are  the  proper  materials  and  instru- 
ments of  religious  culture?  the  answer  is:  Everything! 
History,  nature  study,  literature,  the  fine  arts,  mathe- 
matics, manual  and  industrial  training,  as  well  as  the 
more  specifically  religious  materials,  the  history  of  re- 
ligions, religious  literature,  religious  art  and  mythology, 
etc. — anything,  in  short,  which  will  help  the  boy  to  find 
himself,  which  will  strengthen  his  ethical  and  religious 
sentiments  and  raise  the  tone  and  efficiency  of  his  life. 
The  religious  view  of  the  world,  and  the  attitudes  and 
habits  of  will  associated  therewith,  will  thus  be  a  growth, 
not  an  external  addition,  an  individual  possession,  not 
an  alien  trait;  it  will  be  a  view  of  the  world  which  is  the 
upshot  of  the  normal  exercise  of  life  rather  than  a  col- 

1  Wilm,  "The  Culture  of  Religion:  Elements  of  Religious  Educa- 
tion," pp.  70-73. 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF   THE   STUDENT  745 

lection  of  preformed  ideas  and  judgments  into  which 
he  has  been  indoctrinated  by  methods  long  since  in  dis- 
repute wherever  the  methods  of  modern  pedagogy  are 
known  and  employed.  And  this  is  of  no  small  impor- 
tance for  the  stability  of  the  religious  life  upon  which  the 
effectiveness  and  happiness  of  life  so  much  depend.  A 
religious  view  of  the  world,  if  it  is  to  be  more  than  a 
temporary  and  flimsy  structure  ready  to  collapse  at  the 
first  rude  shock  it  receives  at  the  hands  of  science  or  of 
philosophical  reflection,  must  be  in  some  genuine  sense 
the  result  not  of  dogmatic  teaching  or  authoritative 
prescription,  but  of  the  ideas  and  experiences  gained 
from  the  observation  of  nature  and  of  men,  from  the 
study  of  literature  and  of  science,  and  from  the  intelli- 
gent assimilation  of  these  inevitable  materials  of  our 
spiritual  culture. 

Not  the  least  of  the  advantages  accruing  from  the  em- 
ployment of  what  we  may  call  the  inductive  or  natural 
method  of  religious  education  is  that,  as  a  result  of  it, 
religion  will  not  be  looked  upon  as  a  separate  depart- 
ment of  life,  something  more  or  less  occult  and  unreal, 
and  set  apart  from  the  rest  of  man's  affairs,  but  rather 
as  a  quality  of  mind  and  character  which  penetrates  the 
entire  personality  even  as  it  penetrates  and  permeates 
the  whole  social  mass  and  the  movements  of  history. 

The  Importance  of  the  Teacher. — It  would  be  only 
fair  to  expect  that  I  should  explain  somewhat  in  detail 
just  how  a  religious  view  of  the  world  would  result  from 
the  pursuit  of  the  usual  academic  studies  without  the 
introduction  of  explicit  religious  teachings.  I  have  dealt 
with  this  subject  rather  fully  and  in  systematic  connec- 
tion in  another  place,  and  I  do  not  deem  it  necessary, 
therefore,  to  go  over  the  ground  again,  particularly  since 


746  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

it  is  a  matter  which  requires  too  detailed  an  explanation 
to  be  given  very  advantageously  in  the  brief  space  avail- 
able here.1  The  part  which  the  teacher  himself  plays 
in  the  interpretation  and  application  of  the  knowledge 
acquired  cannot,  of  course,  be  easily  overestimated.  All 
depends  upon  his  own  attitude  toward  philosophical  and 
life  problems,  upon  his  personality,  upon  the  dignity  and 
worth  of  his  character,  and  upon  the  skill  with  which  he 
is  able,  without  sacrifice  to  scholarship,  to  elicit  from 
the  studies  their  unique  philosophical  and  spiritual  sig- 
nificance. There  are  those  rare  characters  among  teach- 
ers under  whose  magic  touch  the  most  intractable  and 
unpromising  material  is  transmuted  into  gold,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  no  matter  how  full  of  possibilities  the 
studies  and  the  opportunities,  they  will  fail  to  be  real- 
ized if  the  teacher  is  lacking  in  moral  earnestness,  in- 
sight, and  teaching  power.  Religion  or  irreligion  will 
be  present  in  the  school,  some  one  has  said,  just  as  surely 
as  teachers  are  present.  It  is  they  who  have  it  in  their 
hands  to  determine  to  a  large  extent  that  indefinable 
but  very  real  and  solid  thing  called  the  atmosphere  and 
tone  of  the  school.  And  by  their  tone,  as  the  late  Wil- 
liam James  finely  said,  are  all  things  human  either  lost 
or  saved.  Nothing  promises  more  for  the  future  of  pub- 
lic education  in  the  United  States  than  the  increased 
emphasis  which  is  everywhere  being  placed  upon  per- 
sonality and  character  in  the  selection  of  teachers  as 
well  as  upon  their  scholarly  and  technical  equipment. 
It  is  calculated  to  give  one  a  fresh  sense  of  the  dignity 
and  importance  of  the  teaching  profession  to  reflect  that 

1  Cf.  "The  Culture  of  Religion,"  especially  chap.  Ill,  "The  Relation 
of  the  Public  School  to  Religious  Education."  Consult  also  De  Garmo, 
"Principles  of  Secondary  Education,"  vol.  III. 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF  THE   STUDENT  747 

it  is  not  only  the  general  intelligence  but  the  moral  in- 
tegrity and  idealism  of  the  nation  as  well  which  rests 
very  largely  in  its  hands.  The  inculcation  and  enforce- 
ment of  the  ideals  of  right  living  and  the  moral  regenera- 
tion of  cities  and  nations  depends  not  primarily  upon 
the  church  and  courts  of  justice,  which  have  to  do  with 
virtue  and  corruption  whose  strength  is  the  strength  of 
years,  but  upon  the  home  and  the  school,  where  life  is 
new  and  ideals  are  plastic  and  where  the  influences  of 
teaching  and  example  are  most  vivid  and  potent. 

The  Question  of  Specific  Instruction  in  Biblical  Lit- 
erature and  History.— The  view  put  forward  here  that 
the  whole  curriculum  and  conduct  of  the  school  must 
contribute  in  a  large  sense  to  the  ends  of  ethical  and 
religious  culture,  and  the  larger  spiritual  significance 
which  this  view  attributes  to  the  so-called  secular  mate- 
rials of  the  course  of  study,  is  not  meant  to  obscure  our 
estimate  of  the  value  of  those  more  specific  means  of 
religious  culture  which  the  church  and  the  school  have 
from  time  immemorial  employed:  the  more  specifically 
religious  literatures,  the  history  of  religious  ideas,  the 
poetry  and  music  of  devotion,  and  the  rest.  The  arti- 
ficial exclusion  of  materials  of  this  kind  from  the  schools 
is  not  only  unpedagogical,  revealing  a  defective  sense  of 
the  importance  of  historical  and  psychological  continuity 
in  educational  processes,  but  it  is  unjust  to  the  pupil 
himself,  who  is  thus  deprived  of  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting and  significant  forms  of  our  common  social  in- 
heritance. 

Nothing,  for  example,  is  more  strained  and  short- 
sighted than  the  exclusion  from  the  schools  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  Bible,  a  practice  in  which  a  surprisingly  large 
number  of  people  concur  and  which  they  appear  to  ac- 


748  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

cept  as  an  educational  and  practical  necessity.  The  ob- 
jections to  instruction  in  Biblical  literature  have  largely 
depended  upon  views  of  the  nature  of  the  Biblical 
writings  which  are  being  widely  abandoned  nowadays, 
so  that  some  relief  in  respect  to  this  feature  of  the  re- 
ligious education  problem  may  fairly  be  hoped  for  and 
expected.  For  the  strained  and  unnatural  views  of 
the  Bible,  and  the  consequent  educational  loss  entailed 
through  its  exclusion  from  general  educational  use,  both 
the  religious  and  the  secular  factions  are  alike  responsi- 
ble. The  church  party  objected  to  the  use  of  the  Bible 
by  secular  agencies  because  the  Bible  was  a  "sacred" 
book  which  could  receive  adequate  interpretation  only 
through  the  appointed  agencies  of  the  church,1  while  the 
secular  faction  held  that  the  whole  view  of  the  Bible  as 
a  source  of  absolute  and  irreversible  truth  was  false  and 
that  the  Bible  was,  therefore,  not  utilizable  at  all  for 
educational  and  school  purposes.  Now  that  our  views  of 
the  nature  of  these  writings  have  been  pretty  thoroughly 
unstiffened  and  recast,  so  that  we  no  more  think  of  apply- 
ing the  terms  "  true  "  and  "  false  "  to  large  portions  of  the 
Bible  than  we  do  to  Homer  or  Dante,  we  should  at  length 
be  in  position  to  utilize  these  literary  materials  for  the 
pedagogical  and  cultural  purposes  for  which  they  are  so 
incomparably  adapted.  Nothing,  indeed,  promises  more 
for  education  than  the  wide-spread  interest,  at  once  cor- 
dial and  scientific,  in  the  phenomena  of  the  spiritual  life, 
the  unanimity  of  opinion  regarding  the  primacy  of  the 
ethical  aim  in  education,  and  the  unqualified  approval 

1  One  naturally  associates  this  view  with  Catholicism;  the  Protestant 
view,  however,  is  the  same  in  principle,  only  still  narrower,  if  possible, 
since  it  often  assumes  that  the  true  understanding  of  Biblical  teachings 
is  monopolized  by  this  or  that  denomination. 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF   THE   STUDENT  749 

of  all  those  agencies,  irrespective  of  uninformed  or 
pseudoscientific  prejudices  against  them,  which  possess 
unquestioned  pedagogical  and  cultural  value.  As  an 
example  both  of  the  scientific  spirit  of  the  psychologist 
and  of  an  unbiassed  view  of  the  pedagogical  importance 
of  the  Bible,  there  is  nothing  finer  than  the  utterance 
of  President  G.  Stanley  Hall  in  his  recent  "Educational 
Problems":  "The  belief  in  the  absolute  and  literal 
truthfulness  and  finality  of  the  Bible  often  makes  the 
Book  of  Books  a  pedagogic  incubus  and  monstrosity.  It 
is,  as  Moulton  says,  the  worst-printed  book  in  the  world, 
with  sins  unnumbered  against  the  hygiene  of  the  eye; 
but  it  is  also,  as  Kornfeld  urges,  the  worst-taught  of  all 
books  and,  as  it  might  be  added,  the  most  grossly  mis- 
understood. To  eliminate  it  from  education,  as  the  sec- 
ular schools  do,  is  as  preposterous  pedagogically  as  it 
would  have  been  in  the  days  of  Plato  to  taboo  Homer  in 
the  education  of  the  Greek  youth.  It  is  not  only  a 
model  of  English,  translated  just  at  that  period  and  in 
just  the  way  that  makes  it  one  of  the  best  monuments 
in  our  language  of  direct,  simple,  forcible  Saxon  style, 
but  it  is  impossible  to  understand  the  culture  history  of 
any  country  of  Europe  without  it,  as  it  has  influenced 
the  literature,  history,  and  the  life  of  the  Western  nations 
as  no  other  book  has  begun  to  do.  Now  that  we  have  a 
new  historical  revelation  of  it  by  the  higher  criticism, 
this  outrageous  abuse  should  cease.  The  best  myth 
is  philosophy  pedagogically  adapted  to  the  young,  and 
philosophy  is  only  myth  written  and  revealed  in  terms  of 
the  adult  intellect."  It  follows,  of  course,  from  the  time 
and  circumstances  under  which  the  Bible  was  com- 
posed, that  there  is  much  in  it  which  is  not  fitted  for  the 
individual  or  the  life  of  to-day,  so  that  expurgation  is 


750  THE   MODERN  HIGH   SCHOOL 

required.  "But  this  done,  the  remainder,  fitly  printed, 
arranged,  and  understood,  should  be  taught  to  every 
child  as  an  inalienable  birthright.  Even  its  miraculous 
records  are  mostly,  as  now  interpreted,  psychopedagogic 
chefs-d'oeuvre  of  unique  power  into  all  the  higher  mean- 
ings of  which  their  symbols  unfold  as  the  soul  ripens  to 
maturity.  Thus  there  is  no  such  text-book  of  both  the 
higher  anthropology  of  races  and  of  genetic  psychology 
showing  how  the  individual  expands  and  approximates 
the  dimensions  of  the  ethnic  consciousness."  l 

What  is  here  said  in  such  an  admirably  impartial 
spirit  of  the  Bible  applies  to  all  other  religious  materials 
whatsoever.  As  an  organic  part  of  the  race's  culture, 
they  are  a  part  of  the  child's  rightful  inheritance,  and 
it  is  only  a  fanciless  religiosity  or  an  equally  hard  and 
one-sided  scientificism  and  secularism  which  is  unable  to 
recognize  the  school's  manifest  opportunities  and  duties 
in  relation  to  the  normal  development  of  the  student's 
spiritual  culture. 

Should  Biblical  Instruction  Be  Given  in  Separate 
Periods? — As  regards  the  question  of  separate  instruc- 
tion in  the  Bible  and  similar  materials  in  religious  his- 
tory and  literature,  in  periods  specially  set  aside  for  the 
purpose,  it  seems  rather  important  that  such  instruction 
should  be  kept  in  the  closest  possible  connection  with 
the  rest  of  the  curriculum  and  that  the  suggestion  of 
the  uniqueness  of  the  Bible  and  other  religious  materi- 
als should  be  as  far  as  possible  avoided.  The  separate 
teaching  of  the  Bible  in  a  special  "Department  of  Bible" 
or  "Biblical  Literature,"  such  as  is  found  in  many  col- 
leges, seems,  on  the  whole,  an  unwise  practice  and  one 
which  is  likely  to  rob  the  instruction  in  such  a  depart- 
ed. I,  pp.  154-5- 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF   THE   STUDENT  751 

ment  of  its  full  effect  through  illegitimate  prejudices 
and  associations  which  are  sure  to  be  aroused.  Much,  of 
course,  depends  upon  the  personality  and  the  skill  of  the 
instructor  in  charge.  The  associations  referred  to  are 
more  likely  to  be  avoided,  however,  and  the  actual 
pedagogical  values  of  the  Biblical  writings  are  more 
likely  to  be  realized,  in  my  opinion,  if  they  are  treated 
in  as  broad  a  context  as  possible,  in  a  department,  say, 
of  Semitic  history  and  literature  or,  in  the  high  school, 
in  the  departments  of  literature  and  of  ancient  history; 
in  other  words,  in  their  concrete  connections  with  other 
historical  and  literary  materials  with  which  they  logi- 
cally or  historically  belong.  There  is  no  reason  why  Job 
or  Isaiah  should  be  badly  taught  any  more  than  Homer 
or  Horace. 

The  Situation  in  Germany. — The  suggestion  to  intro- 
duce in  a  natural  way  and  in  their  natural  connections 
Biblical  and  similar  materials  into  the  courses  of  study 
of  our  national  school  system  has  been  met  with  the  mis- 
giving, expressed  in  some  quarters,  that  this  would  mean 
a  backward  movement  in  educational  policy  rather  than 
an  advance,  inasmuch  as  a  number  of  the  leading  Euro- 
pean countries  have  either,  like  France,  excluded  religion 
entirely  from  the  public  schools  or,  like  England  and 
Germany,  are  striving  to  rid  the  public-school  system  of 
the  incubus  of  religious  instruction.  The  limits  of  the 
present  chapter  render  impossible  an  adequate  discus- 
sion of  the  status  of  the  religious  education  controversy 
in  England  and  Germany  or  of  the  precise  issues  which 
are  involved.1     It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that  the  re- 

1  For  an  excellent  brief  account  of  the  status  of  religious  education  in 
England,  France,  and  Germany,  see  De  Garmo,  "The  Present  Status  of 
Religious  Instruction  in  England,  France,  Germany,  and   the   United 


752  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

cent  objections  to  religious  instruction  in  Germany,  where 
such  instruction  has  long  been  in  vogue  as  a  regular  part 
of  the  public-school  curriculum,  have  not  been  to  re- 
ligious instruction  as  such,  but  to  dogmatic  instruction 
along  ecclesiastical  and  confessional  lines,  a  type  which 
no  one  would,  of  course,  think  of  advocating  for  our  sys- 
tem of  national  education.  What  Germany  is  seeking 
to  do  is  not  to  exclude  religion  from  its  public  schools  but 
simply  to  modernize  the  methods  of  instruction  in  re- 
ligious knowledge  and  to  free  religious  instruction  from 
clerical  supervision  and  control,  reforms  which  are  sorely 
needed  and  which  will  receive  the  sympathy  and  vigor- 
ous support  of  progressive  educators  of  every  class  and 
name.  "  The  entire  exclusion  of  religious  instruction  from 
the  schools  is  impossible;  on  the  other  hand,  its  recon- 
struction is  imperative."  This  ringing  statement  from 
the  late  Friedrich  Paulsen  may  be  said  to  represent 
thoroughly  the  sentiment  of  the  progressive  reform  ele- 
ments in  Germany  as  distinguished  from  the  extreme 
wings  in  the  present  education  controversy,  the  orthodox- 
confessional  group,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  agnostic- 
positivist  factions  on  the  other. 

The  German  Programme  of  Reform. — The  situation  in 
Germany  is  so  typical  and  the  reform  movement  so 
sanely  and  aggressively  championed  that  an  examina- 
tion of  the  fundamental  programme  of  reform  cannot  but 
prove  instructive  in  the  present  connection.  The  nine 
resolutions  passed  upon  and  indorsed  by  the  teachers  of 

States,"  in  "Principles  of  Religious  Education,"  edited  by  H.  C.  Potter, 
pp.  47-75.  For  a  fuller  account,  see  Sadler,  "Moral  Instruction  and 
Training  in  Schools.  Report  of  an  International  Inquiry."  For  a  de- 
tailed statement  of  the  situation  in  Germany,  Show,  "The  Movement 
for  Reform  in  the  Teaching  of  Religion  in  the  Public  Schools  of  Saxony," 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin,  1910,  No.  1. 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF  THE   STUDENT  753 

Saxony,  widely  known  as  the  Zwickau  theses,  are  so 
typical  of  the  attitude  of  the  teaching  profession  in  Ger- 
many, and  so  thoroughly  represent  the  position  taken 
upon  the  whole  question  of  religious  training  in  the  pres- 
ent chapter,  that  it  will  be  well  worth  while  to  reproduce 
them  in  full:1  "  (i)  Religion  is  an  essential  subject  of  in- 
struction and  religious  instruction  an  independent  de- 
partment or  branch  of  the  public  school.  (2)  Its  task 
is  to  make  the  mind  of  Jesus  live  in  the  child.  (3)  The 
course  of  study  and  method  of  instruction  must  conform 
to  the  nature  of  the  child  mind,  and  the  determination 
of  these  is  exclusively  the  business  of  the  school.  Cleri- 
cal oversight  of  religious  instruction  is  to  be  abolished. 
(4)  Only  such  materials  of  instruction  are  to  be  used  as 
present  religious  and  ethical  life  clearly  to  the  child. 
Religious  instruction  is  essentially  historical  instruction. 
At  the  centre  is  to  stand  the  person  of  Jesus.  Besides 
the  appropriate  Biblical  materials,  especial  attention  is 
to  be  given  to  life  pictures  of  the  promoters  of  religious 
and  ethical  culture,  with  special  reference  to  modern 
times.  The  experiences  of  the  child  must  be  utilized  in 
a  helpful  way.  (5)  The  public  school  must  exclude  sys- 
tematic and  dogmatic  instruction.  In  the  upper  grades 
the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
and  the  Lord's  Prayer  can  be  prescribed  as  an  appropri- 
ate basis  for  a  summary  of  the  ethical  ideas  contained 
in  the  Christian  religion.  Luther's  catechism  cannot  be 
the  basis  and  point  of  departure  for  the  religious  instruc- 
tion of  the  young.     As  an  historical  document  and  as 

1  For  the  text  and  discussions  of  the  Zwickau  theses,  see  Briick,  "Zur 
Umgestaltung  des  Religionsunterrichts  in  der  Volksschule";  Rietschel, 
"Zur  Reform  des  Religionsunterrichts";  see  also  Show,  op.  cit.,  and 
bibliography  cited  there. 


754  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

the  Evangelical-Lutheran  creed,  it  is  to  be  esteemed. 
(6)  The  religious  matter  to  be  learned  should  be  re- 
modelled and  materially  reduced  in  accordance  with 
psychological-pedagogical  principles  and  the  amount  re- 
quired should  be  lessened.  (7)  Religious  instruction  as 
an  independent  subject  of  instruction  should  not  come 
in  before  the  third  school  year.  In  order  that  the  inter- 
est of  the  child  may  not  suffer,  the  number  of  hours 
should  be  lessened  in  all  grades.  The  customary  division 
of  religious  instruction  into  Biblical  history  and  catechism 
is  to  be  abolished.  Likewise,  examinations  and  censor- 
ships in  religion  are  to  be  abolished.  (8)  The  entire  in- 
struction in  religion  must  stand  in  harmony  with  the 
established  results  of  scientific  research  and  with  the 
enlightened  moral  sentiment  of  our  times.  (9)  Along 
with  the  reform  of  religious  instruction  in  the  public 
school  there  is  needed  a  corresponding  transformation  of 
religious  instruction  in  teachers'  training  colleges."  The 
intent  of  these  theses  is  so  plain  that  further  comment 
upon  them  is  unnecessary.  It  is  my  own  view  that  a 
scheme  of  ethico-religious  instruction,  broadly  in  har- 
mony with  the  German  plan,  would  be  of  distinct  bene- 
fit to  American  education.  A  possible  exception  might 
be  made,  as  already  suggested,  of  the  first  provision  re- 
garding the  isolation  of  this  instruction  as  a  separate 
branch  of  the  curriculum.  Even  this  point  would,  I 
recognize,  be  open  to  discussion  if  it  were  not  for  an  in- 
stitution, well  domesticated  in  America  and  in  England, 
which  is  especially  devoted  to  formal  religious  instruc- 
tion— the  Sunday-school.  With  the  subject  of  the  possi- 
ble ways  of  co-operation  between  the  high  school  and 
this  teaching  department  of  the  church  we  must  deal 
briefly  in  conclusion. 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF   THE   STUDENT  755 

Lines  of  Co-operation  between  the  High  School  and 
the  Sunday-School. — It  is  a  very  important  point,  in  the 
first  place,  for  teachers  and  educators  generally  to  view 
the  Sunday-school,  or  the  church  school  of  whatever 
name,  as  an  organic  part  of  the  educational  system  as  a 
whole,  instead  of  regarding  it  as  one  of  the  appendages 
of  the  church,  which  is  really  negligible  as  an  educa- 
tional agency.  The  perspective  gained  through  the 
classification  of  the  Sunday-school  with  the  general 
school  system  cannot  but  be  of  benefit  both  to  the  high 
school  and  the  church  school,  as  it  will  make  possible 
certain  lines  of  co-operation  which  would  not  be  so 
likely  to  be  established  if  the  unity  of  the  whole  educa- 
tional scheme  is  lost  sight  of. 

This  mental  association  between  the  secular  and  the 
religious  forces  in  education  once  established,  several 
lines  of  possible  co-operation  are  easily  discernible. 

On  the  side  of  the  Sunday-school  two  things  are  of 
special  importance:  (i)  The  materials  of  the  Sunday- 
school  curriculum  must  be  treated  in  as  close  a  corre- 
lation as  possible  with  the  studies  which  the  pupil  is 
pursuing  outside  of  the  Sunday-school.  The  close  con- 
nection which  exists  between  the  more  purely  secu- 
lar studies  and  religious  studies  in  the  German  public 
schools  and  in  the  Catholic  parish  schools  furnishes  the 
ideal  condition  for  bringing  the  entire  curriculum  under 
a  single  aim.  The  loose  relation  which  has  existed  in 
America  between  the  two  sides  of  education,  the  secu- 
lar and  the  religious,  has  doubtless  been  one  of  the 
greatest  weaknesses  of  our  system  of  religious  education 
under  church  auspices.  The  result  is  that  the  pupil 
thinks  of  his  religious  lessons  as  dealing  with  a  world  of 
unrealities  and  shadows  which  has  no  connection  what- 


756  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

ever  with  his  daily  duties  or  with  the  world  in  which  he 
lives.  This  can  be  easily  brought  out  by  asking  any 
Sunday-school  pupil  with  what  event  in  secular  history 
some  event  in  Hebrew  history  is  contemporaneous.  The 
child  will  likely  reveal  the  fact  that  it  has  never  realized 
that  the  Biblical  event  ever  occurred  in  the  world  at  all! 

Lines  of  connection  between  the  secular  and  the  re- 
ligious curriculum  can  be  most  naturally  and  effectively 
established  in  the  various  branches  of  nature  study,  in 
geography,  history,  literature,  and  mythology.  The  pu- 
pil has  a  large  and  varied  background  of  experiences  and 
truths  in  these  fields  which  could  be  utilized  to  great 
advantage  in  rendering  the  whole  course  of  study  more 
real  and  significant. 

(2)  If  Sunday-schools  expect  to  enlist  the  interest  of 
high  school  students  in  their  work  they  must  provide  for 
instruction  and  teachers  suited  to  the  grade  of  academic 
advancement  and  mental  maturity  which  these  pupils 
have  reached.  One  of  the  main  reasons  why  the  Sun- 
day-school fails  to  interest  and  to  hold  young  people  of 
this  age  is  that  it  does  not  furnish  them  with  material 
sufficient  in  amount  and  difficulty  to  command  their  re- 
spect and  to  keep  them  healthfully  employed.  Much 
could  be  done,  in  my  opinion,  to  interest  growing  young 
people  in  Sunday-school  instruction  if  the  curriculum  were 
more  differentiated  in  the  upper  grades,  so  as  to  offer  a 
greater  variety  of  interests  and  branches  than  is  now 
offered  in  the  yearly  repetition  of  half-familiar  Biblical 
materials;  if  instruction  in  Bible,  for  example,  were  sup- 
plemented by  courses  in  biography,  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, comparative  religion,  in  practical  ethics  and  so- 
ciology, in  the  music  of  the  church,  much  of  which  is  of 
an  extremely  high  grade  but  is  practically  unknown  to 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF   THE   STUDENT  757 

American  young  people,  and  other  such  courses.  It 
seems  little  less  than  criminal  to  starve  the  interest  of 
young  people  in  a  subject  of  really  profound  significance 
and  of  intrinsic  appeal  by  feeding  them  upon  the  dead 
straw  of  antiquarian  pedantry  and  upon  the  insufferably 
tedious  moralizing  so  often  indulged  in  when  the  mate- 
rials for  true  religious  and  social  culture  are  at  once  so 
interesting  and  so  vastly  abundant.  One  of  the  leading 
difficulties  of  Sunday-school  work,  the  difficulty  of  secur- 
ing strong  and  competent  teachers,  would  in  this  way 
incidentally  be  solved.  There  would  be  little  difficulty, 
I  imagine,  in  enlisting  the  interest  of  persons  of  academic 
training  and  personal  culture  if  they  believed  that  the 
instruction  which  they  were  called  upon  to  give  could  be 
made  really  modern  and  significant. 

The  aid  which  the  high  school,  on  its  part,  can  render 
the  Sunday-school,  though  simple,  is  very  considerable. 
I  wish  to  mention  here  only  three  ways  which  seem  to 
me  unquestionably  important. 

(i)  The  high  school  can  render  a  substantial  service 
to  religious  education  through  the  participation  of  its 
officers  and  teachers  in  the  actual  work  of  Sunday-school 
supervision  and  instruction.  There  would  be  two  main 
advantages  in  this.  In  the  first  place,  the  teachers 
would  bring  with  them  a  natural  aptitude  for  teaching, 
classroom  experience,  and  likely  some  professional  train- 
ing. Second,  the  plan  would  go  far  toward  solving  the 
problem  of  correlation  between  the  work  of  the  public 
school  and  the  Sunday-school,  on  the  importance  of 
which  I  have  already  insisted,  since  the  teacher  would 
be  presumed  to  have  an  acquaintance  with  the  pupil's 
other  school  studies  and  acquirements  which  the  special 
teacher  would  naturally  not  possess. 


758  THE   MODERN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

(2)  Whether  they  take  part  in  the  actual  work  of 
Sunday-school  instruction  or  not,  high  school  teachers 
can  do  much  for  religious  education  by  encouraging  in 
their  pupils  regular  attendance  upon  Sunday-school  in- 
struction, an  indispensable  condition,  as  every  teacher 
knows,  of  effective  work  along  any  line  of  school  work. 
This  is  the  more  important  because  attendance  upon 
religious  instruction  offered  by  churches  cannot,  in  this 
country  at  least,  be  made  compulsory,  as  attendance 
upon  the  secular  school  can,  so  that  regularity  of  at- 
tendance is  something  which  depends  almost  entirely 
upon  the  conscientious  discharge  of  their  duty  in  this 
respect  on  the  part  of  parents  and  teachers. 

(3)  The  pressing  problems  of  attendance  and  disci- 
pline of  the  Sunday-school  can  both  be  partly  solved 
through  the  high  school  by  according  recognition  for 
work  done  in  the  Sunday-school  through  a  specified 
amount  of  credit  for  proficiency  in  religious  and  Biblical 
subjects.  An  important  initial  step  in  this  direction 
has  recently  been  taken  by  the  State  board  of  education 
of  North  Dakota,  which  in  191 2  published  and  author- 
ized a  syllabus  outlining  a  course  of  Biblical  study  for 
the  completion  of  which  a  half-credit  out  of  the  fifteen 
required  for  graduation  is  granted.  While  the  teaching 
of  the  Bible  courses  is  left  to  the  Sunday-school  or  to 
private  instruction,  standardization  is  secured  through 
examinations  which  are  given  by  the  board  of  education 
as  a  regular  State  examination.  Although  the  move- 
ment has  just  been  started,  many  classes  have  been 
formed,  and  much  interest  is  manifested.  It  is  unneces- 
sary to  say  that  the  official  recognition  thus  accorded  to 
Sunday-school  instruction  is  bound  to  dignify  and  stiffen 
the  work  of  the  Sunday-school  as  nothing  else  could. 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF   THE   STUDENT  759 

In  these  various  ways,  then,  the  three  problems  which 
are  often  mentioned  as  the  three  main  problems  of 
Sunday-school  instruction — the  securing  of  adequately 
prepared  teachers,  of  regular  attendance,  and  of  proper 
standardization  and  discipline — will,  through  the  gen- 
erous co-operation  of  the  high  school,  get  well  under 
way  toward  solution.  Incidentally,  the  unity  of  the 
educational  organism,  the  indispensable  condition  of 
the  spiritual  integrity  of  the  pupil,  will  be  increasingly 
achieved. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
CHAPTERS   I   AND   II 

THE    SOCIAL    ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    HIGH    SCHOOL    AND    THE 
HIGH  SCHOOL  AS  A   SOCIAL  ENTERPRISE 

Armstrong,  E.  T. — "Is  Our  Present  High  School  System  Ineffi- 
cient?"    American  School  Board  Journal,  42:3-4,  29. 

Balliet,  T.  M—  "High  School  of  the  Future."  Educational 
Foundations,  18:209-16,  Nov.,  1906. 

Cary,  C.  P.— "The  Opportunities  of  the  Modern  High  School." 
National  Education  Association.  Journal  of  Proceed- 
ings and  Addresses,  19 10.     pp.  457-62. 

Davis,  C.  O. — "The  Reorganization  of  Secondary  Education." 
Educational  Review,  42:270-301,  Oct.,  191 1. 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D. — "The  Administration  of  Public 
Education  in  the  United  States,"  chap.  XX,  pp.  356-85. 
References:  pp.  383-85.     $2.00,  Macmillan. 

Elliff,  J.  D. — "A  Study  of  the  Principles  Underlying  the  Founda- 
tions of  the  Modern  High  School."  Southern  Educational 
Review,  2:533-47,  641-44,  Dec,  1905,  Jan.,  1906. 

Elliott,  E.  C. — "The  Genesis  of  American  Secondary  Schools,  in 
Their  Relation  to  the  Life  of  the  People."  In  National 
Society  for  the  Scientific  Study  of  Education.  Fourth 
Year-book.  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1905.  Pt.  I, 
pp.  1 1-26. 

Fisher,  W.  J. — "The  Drift  in  Secondary  Education."  Science, 
n.  s.  36:587-90,  Nov.  1,  1912. 

Hall,  G.  S. — "Educational  Problems,"  vol.  II,  pp.  634-66. 
Chapter  on  "The  American  High  School."  $7.50,  Ap- 
pleton. 

Judd,  C.  H—  "On  Scientific  Study  of  High  School  Problems." 
School  Review,  18:84-98,  Feb.,  1910. 
761 


762  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

"The  Meaning  of  Secondary  Education."     School  Review, 

21:11-25,  Jan.,  1913. 

Martin,  G.  H.— "The  Peculiar  Obligation  of  the  Public  High 
School."     Educational  Review,  43:461-71,  May,  1912. 

Moore,  E.  C. — "Present  Tendencies  in  Secondary  Education." 
Burlington,  Vt.,  University  of  Vermont  (191 1),  20  pp.  8vo. 

Snedden,  D. — "The  Opportunity  of  the  Small  High  School." 
School  Review,  20:98-110,  Feb.,  1912.  Also  in  "Educa- 
tional Readjustment,"  chap.  VII.     $1.25,  Houghton. 

Wilson,  H.  B. — "Industrial  Training  in  the  Cosmopolitan  High 
School."  In  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Educa- 
tion. Eleventh  Year-book,  pp.  68-74.  Part  I.  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago  Press,  1912. 

CHAPTER  III 

THE    LEGAL    STATUS    OF    THE    AMERICAN    "FREE"    HIGH    SCHOOL 

Brown,  E.  E—  "The  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools."  $3.00, 
Longmans. 

Brown,  J.  F. — "The  American  High  School,  191 2."  $1.25, 
Macmillan. 

Cary,  C.  P. — "Manual  of  the  Free  High  Schools  of  Wisconsin," 
1910. 

Cubberley,  E.  P. — "The  California  System  of  High  School  Sup- 
port."    The  University  of  Illinois  Bulletin,  191 2. 

"School  Funds  and  Their  Apportionment."  Teachers  Col- 
lege, Columbia  University,  New  York,  1905. 

Eliot,  C.  W—  "More  Money  for  the  Public  Schools."  $1.00, 
Doubleday,  Page. 

Elliott,  E.  C— "Equality  of  Opportunity  for  All."  Proc.  N.  E. 
A.,  1908:159. 

"State  School  Systems,"  United  States  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion, Bulletin  No.  2,  1910. 

Fitzpatrick,  E.  A.— "The  Rural  School  Problem  Dissolved." 
State  Board  of  Public  Affairs,  Madison,  Wis.,  1913. 

Harris,  W.  T.— "The  Growth  of  the  Public  High  School  System 
in  the  United  States."     Educational  Review,  27:259. 

Hollister,  H.  A. — "High  School  Administration."     $1.50,  Heath. 

Reports  of  State  Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  763 

Russell,  J.  E. — "Democracy  and  Education."     Proc.  N.  E.  A., 

1908:155. 
School    laws   of   the   various   States,   as  given   in    the   general 

statutes.     (The  laws  of  191 2  and  1913  in  some  cases  only 

were  available.) 
Snyder,  E.   R.— "The  Legal  Status  of  Rural  High  Schools." 

Contributions  to  Education,  Teachers  College,  1909. 
Updegraff,  H. — -"A  Study  of  Expenses  of  City  School  Systems." 

United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  No.  5,  191 2. 
Wright,  R.  H.,  and  Monahan,  A.   C. — "  Training  Courses  for 

Teachers,"  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin 

No.  2,  1913. 

CHAPTER   IV 

THE   AMERICAN   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   BUSINESS   ENTERPRISE 

Ayres,  L.  P. — "Laggards  in  Our  Schools."  $1.50,  Charities 
Pub.  Co. 

Blan,  L.  B. — "A  Special  Study  of  the  Incidence  of  Retarda- 
tion." Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  Contri- 
butions to  Education,  No.  40. 

Boston. — Annual  Report  School  Committee,  191 2. 

Brown,  J.  F. — "The  Training  of  Teachers  of  Secondary  Schools 
in  Germany  and  United  States."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

Bryan,  J.  E. — "A  Method  for  Determining  the  Extent  and 
Causes  of  Retardation  in  a  City  School  System." 
Psychol.  Clinic,  vol.  I,  p.  41. 

Census. — Report  of  the  Thirteenth  Census  of  United  States, 
1910. 

Cubberley,  E.  P. — "School  Funds  and  Their  Apportionment." 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  Contributions  to 
Education,  No.  2. 

Elliott,  E.  C. — "Some  Fiscal  Aspects  of  Public  Education  in 
American  Cities."  Teachers  College,  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, Contributions  to  Education,  No.  6. 

National  Education  Association  Annual  Reports,  especially 
1910-11-12. 

Newton. — Annual  Reports  of  School  Committee,  1911-12. 

Pritchett,  H. — Sixth  and  Seventh  Annual  Reports  of  Carnegie 
Foundation. 


764  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Snedden  and  Allen. — "School  Reports  and  School  Efficiency." 
$1.50,  Macmillan. 

Strayer,  G.  D. — "City  School  Expenditures."  Teachers  Col- 
lege, Columbia  University,  Contributions  to  Education, 

No.  5. 

"Standards    and   Tests   for   Measuring    the    Efficiency   of 

Schools  and  School  Systems."  Bulletin  No.  13,  1913, 
United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 

Strayer  and  Thorndike. — "Educational  Administration."  $1.50, 
Macmillan. 

Thorndike,  E.  L. — "Education."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

"The  Elimination  of  Pupils  from  School."     Bulletin  No.  4, 

1907,  United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 

"The  Teaching  Staff  of  Secondary  Schools  in  the  United 

States;  Amount  of  Education,  Length  of  Experience, 
Salaries."  Bulletin  No.  4,  United  States  Bureau  of  Ed- 
ucation, 1909. 

Updegraff,  H. — "A  Study  of  the  Expenses  of  City  School  Sys- 
tems." Bulletin  No.  5,  191 2,  United  States  Bureau  of 
Education. 

"Teachers'   Certificates  Issued  under  General  State  Laws 

and  Regulations."  Bulletin  No.  18,  191 1,  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education. 

Van  Denburg,  J.  K. — "Causes  of  the  Elimination  of  Students  in 
Public  Secondary  Schools  of  New  York  City."  Teachers 
College,  Columbia  University,  Contributions  to  Educa- 
tion, No.  47. 

Also  indispensable  as  means  of  reference  are  the  following: 

Annual  Reports  of  Commissioner  of  Education  for  United 

States. 
Annual  Reports  for  the  larger  city  school  systems. 
Annual  Reports  of  the  National  Education  Association. 
Report  of  the  Committee  on  Uniform  Records  and  Re- 
ports.    Bulletin   No.  3,  191 2.     United  States  Bureau 
of  Education. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  7G5 

CHAPTER   V 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TO  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL 

Aiton,  G.  B. — "Principles  Underlying  the  Making  of  Courses  of 
Study  for  Secondary  Schools."     School  Review,  6:369. 

Balfour,  G. — "The  Educational  Systems  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland."     Oxford. 

Bolton,  F.  E. — "The  Secondary  School  System  of  Germany." 
$1.50,  Appleton. 

Boston. — Annual  Report  of  School  Committee,  191 2. 

Boynton,  F.  D. — "A  Six- Year  High  School  Course."  Educa- 
tional Review,  20:515. 

Brooks,  S.  D. — "Electives  in  the  High  School."     School  Review, 

9:593- 

"The  Scope  and  the  Limitations  of  a  Small  High  School." 

Education,  2  2 :  434. 

Brown,  E.  E—  "The  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools."  $3.00, 
Longmans. 

Brown,  J.  F. — "  The  American  High  School."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

"The  Training  of  Teachers  of  Secondary  Schools  in  Ger- 
many and  the  United  States."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

Brubacher,  A.  R. — "Some  Adjustments  in  Secondary  Educa- 
tion."    Education,  24:613. 

"A  Trade  School  for  Girls."     Bulletin  No.  17,  1913,  United 

States  Bureau  of  Education. 

Butler,  N.  M. — "Scope  and  Function  of  Secondary  Education." 
Educational  Review,  15:15. 

"The  Reform  of  Secondary  Education  in  United  States." 

Atlantic  Monthly,  73:384. 

Dean,  A.  D.— "The  Worker  and  the  State."     $1.20,  Century. 

De  Garmo,  C. — "Principles  of  Secondary  Education."  $1.25, 
Macmillan.     Revised  Edition,  1913. 

Dexter,  E.  G. — "A  History  of  Education  in  the  United  States." 
$2.00,  Macmillan. 

Draper,  A.  S. — "Our  Children,  Our  Schools,  and  Our  Indus- 
tries."    Annual  Report,  1908. 

Dutton  and  Snedden.—"  Administration  of  Public  Education  in 
the  United  States."     $2.00,  Macmillan. 


766  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Eliot,  C.  W. — "Elective  Studies  in  the  Secondary  School."  Ed- 
ucational Review,  15:442. 

"Tendencies  of  Secondary  Education."  Educational  Re- 
view, 14:417. 

Farrington,  F.  C. — "The  Public  Primary  School  System  of 
France."  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  Con- 
tributions to  Education. 

Hall,  G.  S—  "The  High  School  as  the  People's  College."  Ped- 
agogical Seminary,  9:63. 

Hanus,  P.  H. — "Secondary  Education."  Educational  Review, 
17:346. 

"Six-Year    High    School    Program."     Educational  Review, 

2S:455- 

Industrial  and  Trade-Schools.  New  York  State  Education 
Department. 

Johnston,  Charles  Hughes,  and  others. — "High  School  Educa- 
tion," chap.  IV.     $1.50,  Scribner. 

Lexis,  W. — "A  General  View  of  the  History  and  Organization  of 
Public  Education  in  the  German  Empire."     Berlin. 

Parker,  C. — "History  of  Modern  Elementary  Education." 
$1.50,  Ginn. 

Perry,  A.  C,  Jr. — "Outlines  of  School  Administration."  $1.50, 
Macmillan. 

Sharpless,  I. — "English  Education  in  the  Elementary  and  Sec- 
ondary Schools."     $1.00,  Appleton. 

Smith,  A. — The  Educational  Bill  of  1906  for  England  and  Wales 
as  it  passed  the  House  of  Commons.  Bulletin  No.  1, 
1906,  United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 

Snedden,  D.  S.— "Six-Year  High  School  Course."  Educational 
Review,  Dec,  1903,  p.  525. 

"Educational  Readjustment."     $1.50,  Houghton,  1913. 

Thorndike,  E.  L—  "Principles  of  Teaching."  $1.50,  A.  G. 
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Weeks,  A.  D.— "The  Education  of  To-morrow."  $1.25,  Stur- 
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Yaldin,  J.  E. — "The  Short  Course  Trade  School."  Reprinted 
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BIBLIOGRAPHY  767 


CHAPTER   VI 

RELATION   OF   HIGH   SCHOOLS  TO  HIGHER   EDUCATIONAL 

INSTITUTIONS 

The  most  comprehensive  treatment  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
efficiency  of  colleges,  of  high  schools,  and  of  the  whole  educa- 
tional system  is  given  in  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  and 
seventh  annual  reports  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Teaching  (576  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City). 
The  fourth  and  fifth  annual  reports  for  1909  and  1910,  respec- 
tively, treat  the  subject  most  fully. 

The  Proceedings  of  the  National  Education  Association  con- 
tain many  important  addresses  and  reports  upon  this  subject. 
In  1895  the  departments  of  secondary  and  higher  education  ap- 
pointed the  committee  of  ten  on  college  entrance  requirements, 
and  the  report  of  this  committee  is  contained  in  the  Proceedings 
for  1899  and  also  published  separately  by  the  association  as 
a  pamphlet  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  pages.  The  Pro- 
ceedings for  191 1,  191 2,  and  1913  contain  reports  of  the  com- 
mittee of  the  secondary  department  on  the  articulation  of  high 
school  and  college.  The  Proceedings  for  191 2  contain  also  a 
report  of  the  committee  of  the  manual-training  department  on 
college  entrance  requirements. 

The  High  School  Teachers'  Association  of  New  York  City 
issued  in  1910  a  pamphlet  on  "The  Articulation  of  High  School 
and  College,"  containing  a  statement  by  the  association  and 
nearly  one  hundred  opinions  received  in  reply  from  college  presi- 
dents, superintendents,  and  high  school  principals. 

Bulletin  No.  6,  1913,  "College  Entrance  Requirements,"  is- 
sued by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  contains  a  tabu- 
lation and  analysis  of  the  entrance  requirements  of  two  hundred 
and  four  colleges  of  liberal  arts,  eighty-five  colleges  of  engineering, 
and  thirty-one  colleges  of  agriculture  as  they  were  in  Septem- 
ber, 191 2.  The  bureau  is  now  issuing  a  bulletin  on  the  "Reor- 
ganization of  Secondary  Education,"  containing  preliminary 
statements  by  the  chairmen  of  the  various  committees  consti- 
tuting the  Commission  on  the  Reorganization  of  Secondary 
Education.     Bulletin  No.  41,  1913. 

The  reports  of  the  New  England  College  Entrance  Certificate 


768  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Board  and  the  documents  of  the  College  Entrance  Examination 
Board  contain  discussions  of  the  certificate  system  and  syllabi  of 
college  entrance  courses,  respectively. 

Aley,  R.  J. — "Articulation  of  Higher  and  Secondary  Education 
through  Teaching  and  Teachers."  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1909, 
pp.  198-203. 

"Needed  Adjustment  between  Secondary  Schools  and  Col- 
leges."    Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1911,  pp.  461-466. 

Allen,  J.  E. — "For  Closer  Relations  between  Secondary  Schools 
and  Colleges."     West  Virginia  Educator,  May,  1908. 

Beers,  L.  W. — -"The  Dominance  of  the  High  School  by  the  Uni- 
versity."    South  Dakota  Educator,  April,  May,  1910. 

Bishop,  D.  H. — "Should  Not  the  University  and  Colleges  of 
Mississippi  Adjust  Their  Entrance  Requirements  to  What 
the  High  Schools  Can  Properly  Do?"  Mississippi  School 
Journal,  June,  1909. 

Bolton,  F.  E. — "  What  is  Meant  by  College  Domination."  School 
Review,  Sept.,  1909.     Editorial. 

Brooks,  S.  D. — "The  Relations  of  the  University  to  the  Secon- 
dary Schools."     Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1909,  pp.  192-198. 

Brown,  C.  A.— "The  Extent  to  Which  the  High  School  Should 
Adjust  Its  Courses  to  College  Requirements."  Proc. 
Alabama  Educational  Association,  1909,  pp.  153-158. 

Brown,  J.  F. — "The  American  High  School."  Chapter  on  the 
"Function    of    the    High    School."     $1.25,    Macmillan, 

PP.  54-71. 
Brown,  J.   S. — "The  Autonomy  of  the  High  School."     Proc. 

N.  E.  A.,  1909,  pp.  480-485. 
Brownson,  C.  L. — "The  Relation  between  Secondary  Schools: 

Tendencies  and  Possibilities."     School  Review,  Oct.,  1910. 
Butler,   N.   M. — "A  New  Method  of  Admission  to   College." 

Educational  Review,  Sept.,  1909. 
Caldwell,  O.  W. — "The  New  University  of  Chicago  Plan  for 

Admission."     Proc.  N.  E.  A.,   191 1,  pp.   572-575;  also 

pp.  471-474- 
Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement  of  Teaching.     Third, 

fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  and   seventh  annual  reports  of  the 

President,  576  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  769 

Cary,  C.  P. — "Opportunities  of  the  Modern  High  School." 
Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  iqio,  pp.  457-462. 

"Proposed   Changes  in  the   Crediting  of  High   Schools." 

Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1909,  pp.  207-212. 

Chadsey,  C.  E.— "The  Relation  of  the  High  School  to  the  Com- 
munity and  the  College."  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1909,  pp.  203- 
207. 

Cooper,  R.  F. — "The  Functions  of  the  High  School  as  Compared 
with  Those  of  the  College."  Proc.  Alabama  Education 
Association,  1910,  pp.  262-268. 

Coulter,  J.  M. — "What  the  University  Expects  of  the  Secondary 
School."     School  Review,  Feb.,  1909. 

Davis,  H.  N. — "The  New  Harvard  Plan  for  Admission."  Proc. 
N.  E.  A.,  1911,  pp.  567-571. 

Draper,  A.  S. — "American  Education."  Chapter  on  "  Common 
Schools  and  Universities."    $2.00,  Houghton,  pp.  165-183. 

Duniway,  C.  O. — "Universities  and  High  Schools."  Proc.  Na- 
tional Association  of  Slate  Universities,  1909,  pp.  188-190. 

Flexner,  A.— "The  American  College."  Chapter  on  "The  Col- 
lege and  the  Secondary  School."  $.90,  Century,  pp.  60- 

Harding,  H.  P.— "The  College  and  the  High  School."  Proc. 
North  Carolina  Teachers'  Association,  1908.  Edwards  & 
Broughton  Printing  Co.,  Raleigh,  N.  C,  pp.  306-312. 

High  School  Teachers'  Association  of  New  York  City.  "The 
Articulation  of  High  School  and  College."  A  pamphlet 
containing  a  statement  by  the  association  and  nearly  one 
hundred  replies  from  college  presidents,  superintendents, 
and  principals,  1910. 

Hill,  A.  R—  "The  State  University's  Duty  to  the  Public  High 
School  and  How  It  Should  Be  Performed."  Proc.  Na- 
tional Association  of  State  Universities,  1909,  pp.  136-141. 

Hollister,  H.  A. — "High  School  Administration."  Chapter  on 
the  "Relation  of  the  High  School  to  Colleges  and  Univer- 
sities."    $1.50,  Heath,  pp.  237-252. 

"Some  Results  from  the  Accrediting  of  High  Schools  by 

State  Universities."     Education,  Nov.,  1908. 

Hosmer,  S.  M. — "Should  Alabama  Colleges  Allow  High  School 
Courses  to  Count  toward  a  Degree?  "  Proc.  Alabama  Ed- 
ucational Institution,  1909,  pp.  1 51-152. 


770  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ingalls,  E.  I. — "Inspirational  Effects  of  College  Possibilities." 
Pamphlet  published  by  University  of  Vermont,  191 1,  on 
"College  Requirements  and  the  Secondary  Curriculum." 

Johnson,  O.  A. — "The  Correlation  of  High  School  and  Univer- 
sity."    Western  Journal  of  Education,  July,  1908. 

Judd,  C.  H. — "The  Accrediting  System."  Proc.  North  Central 
Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary  Schools,  1910,  pp. 
162-173. 

Kent,  C.  W.— "The  High  School  and  the  College."  Proc.  North 
Carolina  Teachers'  Assembly.  Edwards  and  Broughton 
Printing  Co.,  Raleigh,  N.  C,  pp.  305-306. 

Kingsley,  C.  D. — "College  Entrance  Requirements."  Bulletin 
No.  6,  1913,  United  States  Bureau  of  Education.  Con- 
tains a  tabulation  and  analysis  of  the  requirements  of  two 
hundred  and  four  colleges  of  liberal  arts,  eighty-five  col- 
leges of  engineering,  and  thirty-one  colleges  of  agriculture. 

Lewis,  W.  D. — "  College  Domination  of  High  Schools."  Outlook, 
Dec.  11,  1909. 

Lough,  J.  E. — "Preparation  for  College."  Pamphlet  published 
by  University  of  Vermont,  191 1,  on  "College  Require- 
ments and  the  Secondary  Curriculum." 

Luckey,  G.  W.  A. — "Needed  Adjustment  between  Secondary 
Schools  and  Colleges."    Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1911,  pp.  466-471. 

Mann,  C.  R. — "The  Interpretation  of  the  College  Entrance 
Examination  Board's  New  Definition  of  the  Require- 
ments in  Physics."     Educational  Review,  Sept.,  1909. 

Manny,  F.  A. — "The  Background  of  the  Certificate  System." 
Education,  1909. 

McAndrew,  W—  "The  High  School  Itself."  Proc.  N.  E.  A., 
1910,  pp.  450-457. 

McCartney,  T.  B.,  Jr.— "The  Relation  of  High  School  and 
College."  Proc.  Kentucky  Education  Association,  1908. 
Frankfort  Printing  Co.,  Frankfort,  Ky.,  pp.  29-34. 

Mell,  P.  H—  "The  College  Attitude  toward  the  High  School." 
Southern  Educational  Review,  1909. 

Monroe,  J.  P. — "How  the  Colleges  Ruin  the  High  Schools." 
World's  Work,  May,  1909. 

Moore,  E.  C. — "Present  Tendencies  in  Secondary  Education." 
Pamphlet  published  by  University  of  Vermont,  191 1,  on 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  771 

"College  Requirements  and  the  Secondary  Curriculum." 
An  excellent  statement. 

Moulder,  J.  L. — "The  Effect  of  Our  College  Entrance  Require- 
ments on  the  Development  of  the  High  School."  Proc. 
Alabama  Educational  Association,  iqio,  pp.  255-256. 

O'Shea,  M.  V.— "The  Dual  System  Must  Go.  Advantages  of 
an  Inspection  Board."  Wisconsin  Journal  of  Education, 
Jan.,  iqio.     Editorial. 

Owen,  W.  B—  "What  the  Colleges  Can  Do.  Where  the  Shoe 
Pinches."     School  Review,  May,  iqio.     Editorial. 

Parlin,  C.  C. — -"The  University  and  the  High  School."  Ameri- 
can College,  Aug.,  iqio. 

Patterson,  J.  K. — "The  University  and  Its  Relation  to  the  Pub- 
lic High  School."  Proc.  Kentucky  Educational  Associa- 
tion, 1909.  Frankfort  Printing  Co.,  Frankfort,  Ky.,  pp. 
131-138. 

Price,  S.  E.— "Shall  the  High  School  Curriculum  Subserve  the 
College  Curriculum  or  the  Business  World?"  Interstate 
Schoolman,  Feb.,  1909. 

Rodeheaver,  J.  N. — "Should  the  High  School  Train  for  Col- 
lege?" Proc.  South  Dakota  Educational  Association, 
1908,  pp.  121-130. 

Roosevelt,  T. — "The  High  School  and  the  College."  Outlook, 
May  10,  1913. 

-Roscoe,  E.  M—  "The  Small  High  School  and  the  College." 
Pamphlet  published  by  the  University  of  Vermont,  191 1, 
on  "College  Requirements  and  the  Secondary  Curricu- 
lum." 

Schumacher,  M. — "The  Affiliation  and  Accrediting  of  Catholic 
High  Schools  and  Academies  to  Colleges."  Proc.  Cath- 
olic Educational  Association,  1909.  Published  by  the  As- 
sociation, Columbus,  Ohio,  pp.  132-140. 

Taylor,  J.  P. — "The  Doomed  Pupil."  Educational  Review, 
May,  1912. 

Thomas,  J.  M. — "The  Mission  of  the  New  England  College." 
Address  published  by  Middlebury  College,  Middle- 
bury,  Vt. 

Yocum,  A.  D. — "The  Relation  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania to  the  Public  School  System."     Teacher,  May,  1910. 


772  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE   RELATION   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   TO   THE   INDUSTRIAL   LIFE 
OF    THE    COMMUNITY 

Brown,  H.  A. — "The  Readjustment  of  a  Rural  High  School  to 
the  Needs  of  the  Community."  Bulletin  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education,  No.  20,  191 2. 

Burks,  J.  D. — "Getting  Our  Bearings  on  Industrial  Education." 
The  Elementary  School  Teacher,  May,  1909. 

Carlton,  F.  T. — "Education  and  Industrial  Evolution."  $1.25, 
Macmillan. 

"The  History  and  Problems  of  Organized  Labor,"  chap. 

XVII.     $2.00,  Heath. 

"The  Social  Demands  of  Modern  Education."  The  Pro- 
gressive Journal  of  Education,  April,  1909;  Sept.,  1909. 

Commons,  J.  R. — "Industrial  Education  and  Dependency." 
La  Follette's  Magazine,  April  12,  1913. 

Cooley,  E.  G. — "The  Need  of  Vocational  Schools  in  the  United 
States."  Pamphlet  issued  by  the  Commercial  Club  of 
Chicago. 

Dean,  A.  D—  "The  Worker  and  the  State."     $1.50,  Century. 

Dewey,  J. — "The  School  and  Society."  $1.00,  University  of 
Chicago  Press. 

Gillette,  J.  M. — "Vocational  Education."  $1.00,  American 
Book  Company. 

Hanus,  P.  H. — "Beginnings  in  Industrial  Education."  $1.00, 
Houghton. 

Kerschensteiner,  Georg. — "Education  for  Citizenship."  $1.00, 
Rand  McNally. 

"The  Fundamental  Principles  of   Continuation   Schools." 

The  School  Review,  vol.  XIX,  pp.  162,  225,  295. 

Leavitt,  F.  M. — "Examples  of  Industrial  Education."  $1.25, 
University  of  Chicago  Press. 

Person,  H.  S.— "Industrial  Education."     $1.00,  Houghton. 

Report  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  and  Technical  Educa- 
tion.    Massachusetts,  1906. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Industrial  Education.  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor,  19 10. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  773 

Report  of  Committee  on  the  Place  of  Industries  in  Public  Edu- 
cation.    National  Education  Association,  iqio. 

Report  of  the  Michigan  State  Commission  on  Industrial  and 
Agricultural  Education,  iqio. 

Sadler,  M.  E.— "Continuation  Schools  of  England  and  Else- 
where."    Manchester  University  Press. 

Schneider,  H. — "Partial  Time  Schools."  The  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  vol. 
XXXIII. 

Thirty-Five  Teachers  of  Washington  Irving  High  School, 
"What  We  Are  Trying  to  Do."  The  World's  Work, 
May,  1913. 

Thum,  W—  "The  Public  Works  High  School."  The  Arena, 
vols.  XXXVIII,  XXXIX. 


CHAPTERS   VIII,  IX,  X,  XI 

LITERATURE    ON   SPECIAL   PHASES   OF   THE   HABITS    OF   STUDY 

Breslich,  E.  R—  "Teaching  High-School  Pupils  to  Study." 
School  Review,  vol.  XX,  pp.  505-15,  Oct.,  191 2. 

Colvin,  S.  S. — "The  Learning  Process."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

Cramer,  F.— "Talks  to  Students  on  the  Art  of  Study."  $1.00, 
Hoffman  Edwards. 

Dresser,  H.  W.— "Human  Efficiency."     $1.50,  Putnam. 

Earhart,  L.  B—  "Teaching  Children  to  Study."  $.60,  Hough- 
ton. 

"Systematic   Study  in   the   Elementary   Schools."     $1.00, 

Teachers  College. 

Hinsdale,  B.  A.— "The  Art  of  Study."  $1.00,  American  Book 
Co. 

Jones,  0.  M—  "Teaching  Children  How  to  Study."  $.80, 
Macmillan. 

McMurry,  F.  M.— "How  to  Study."     $1.25,  Houghton. 

Meumann. — "The  Psychology  of  Learning."     $1.75,  Appleton. 

Minnick,  J.  H. — "  An  Experiment  in  the  Supervised  Study  of 
Mathematics."     School  Review,  vol.  XXI,  pp.  670-75. 

Moore,  G.  W— "  Outline  of  the  Science  of  Study."    $1.00,  Hinds. 


774  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Reavis. — "Importance  of  a  Study-Program  for  High  School 
Pupils."  School  Review,  vol.  XIX,  pp.  398-405,  June, 
1011. 

Roberts,  G.  L. — "How  to  Study."  Educator- Journal,  vol.  X, 
pp.  626-29,  Aug.,  1910. 

Rowe,  S.  H. — "Study  Habit  and  How  to  Form  It."  Education, 
vol.  XXX,  pp.  670-83,  June,  1910. 

Stockton,  J.  L. — "An  Analysis  of  Study."  Western  Journal  of 
Education,  vol.  V,  pp.  117-21,  March,  1912. 

Strayer,  G.  D. — "Teaching  Children  to  Study."  Atlantic  Edu- 
cational Journal,  vol.  IV,  pp.  285-86,  299,  April,  1909. 

Swett,  H.  P. — "Teaching  Pupils  to  Study."  Journal  Educa- 
tion, vol.  LXIX,  pp.  631-32,  June  10,  1909. 

Tighe,  R.  J.— "Teaching  Children  How  to  Study."  North  Car- 
olina Association  City  Public  School  Superintendents  and 
Principals,  1910,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Welch,  W.  M.— "How  to  Study."     $1.00,  Welch  and  Co. 

Wells.— "How  to  Study."    $.50,  United  C.  E.  Society. 

READING   AND   BOOKS   IN   RELATION   TO   STUDY 

Bagley,    W.    C. — "Classroom    Management,"    p.    190,    $1.25, 

Macmillan. 
Educational  Review,  vol.  XLV,  Feb.,  1913,  p.  193. 
Hall,   G.    S. — "Educational    Problems,"   vol.   II,   pp.    244-246. 

$7.50,  Appleton. 
Huey,   E.   B. — "The  Psychology  and  Pedagogy  of  Reading." 

$1.40,  Macmillan. 
Koopman,   H.   L. — Education,   vol.   XXXIII,   May,    1903,   pp. 

563-569- 
McAndrew,  Wm. — The  World's  Work,  vol.  XXV,  Nov.,   191 2, 

pp.  72-79- 
Paulsen,    Frederick. — The  German   Universities,  pp.  3 14-31 7 Jf. 

$3.00,  Scribner. 
Perry,  B.—The  Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  XC,  p.  144. 
Prevost,  M. — Normal  Instructor,  Nov.,  1912,  p.  15. 
Sidis,  B. — "Philistine  and  Genius."     $.75,  Moffat,  Yard. 
Sogard,  J. — American  School  Journal,  May,  1913,  p.  11. 
The  English  Journal,  vol.  II,  No.  3,  March,  1913,  p.  148. 
White,    A.     D. — "Autobiography,"    vol.    I,    p.     262.     $7.50, 

Century. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  775 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  TEACHER  TO  STUDYING 

Barker,  J.  F. — School  Review,  vol.  XXI,  April,  1913,  p.  235. 

Berle,  A.  A.— "The  School  in  the  Home."     $1.00,  Moffat,  Yard. 

Colgrove,  C.  P. — "The  Teacher  and  the  School,"  pp.  239-252, 
314-316.     $1.25,  Scribner. 

Educational  Review,  vol.  XLV,  Feb.,  1913,  p.  193. 

Hickman,  J.  E. — Education,  vol.  XXXI,  June,  191 1,  p.  663. 

McKensie,  D. — Public  School  Monthly,  vol.  LXXXII,  March, 
1913,  p.  243. 

McMurry,  C. — Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1906,  pp.  102-108. 

Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  XII,  Sept.,  1905,  pp.  239-288. 

Reudiger,  W.  C. — Education,  vol.  XXIX,  March,  1909,  p.  437. 

Sutton,  Wm.,  and  Horn,  P.  W. — "Essentials  of  School  Manage- 
ment." 

The  Briggs  Report. — Harvard  Grad.  Magazine,  June,  1904. 

CONDITIONS   OF   EFFECTIVE    STUDYING 

Angell,  J.  R. — "Chapters  from  Modern  Psychology,"  pp.  279- 

280.     $1.35,  Longmans. 
Caldwell,  O.  W— "  Detroit  Central  High-School  Plan."     Popu- 
lar Science  Monthly,  vol.  LXXXII,  pp.  243-51. 
Dearborn,  G. — "The  Sthenic  Index  in  Education."    Pedagogical 

Seminary,  vol.  XIX,  p.  164. 
Duke. — The  Teachers'  Encyclopedia,  vol.  IV,  p.  100. 
Education,  vol.  XXV,  p.  503. 

Gedinhagen. — "  Outlines  of  School  Management." 
Hamilton. — "The  Recitation,"  p.  59. 
Hollister,  H.  A. — "High  School  Administration,"  p.  400.     $1.50, 

Heath. 
James,  W. — "The  Energies  of  Men."     $.50,  Moffat,  Yard. 
Keatinge,    M.    W. — "Suggestion   in   Education,"   $1.75,    Mac- 

millan. 
Meriam,  J.  L. — "  Recitation  and   Study."     School  Review,  vol. 

XVIII,  pp.  627-33- 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  LXXXI,  Aug.,  191 2,  p.  194. 
Rowe,  S.  H. — "Habit  Formation  and  the  Science  of  Teaching," 

pp.  164-65.     $1.50,  Longmans. 
Stedman,  W. — "Oxford — Its  Social  and  Intellectual  Life,"  p. 

159- 


776  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Swift,  E.  J. — "Mind  in  the  Making,"  p.  184.     $1.50,  Scribner. 
Taylor,  J.  S. — "  Proper    Use    of    the    Study    Period."     School 
Work,  vol.  IV,  pp.  274-90. 

INHIBITIONS 

Ayres,  L.  P. — "Laggards    in    Our    Schools."    $1.50,    Charities 

Publishing   Co. 
Bruce,  H.  A. — McClure's,  vol.  XLI,  May,  1913,  p.  109. 
Heck,  W.  H  — "  Study  of  Mental  Fatigue."     Warwick  and  York. 
Marks. — "A  Girl's  Student  Days  and  After." 
Martin,  G.  W. — Journal  of  Experimental  Pedagogy,  vol.  I,  nos. 

I  and  II. 
Munsterberg,  H. — "Psychology  and  Industrial  Efficiency,"  p. 

213.     $1.50,  Houghton. 
Offner. — ■"  Mental  Fatigue."     Warwick  and  York. 
Osborne,  L.  A. — Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  XIX,  June,  191 2. 
Reed,  C.  A. — Normal  School  Instructor,  Nov.,  191 2,  p.  14. 

THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   LEARNING   TECHNICALLY   TREATED 

Dewey,  J.— "How  We  Think."     $1.00,  Heath. 

Meumann,  E. — ■"  The  Psychology  of  Learning."    $1.50,  Appleton. 

Meyer,  Max. — "The  Fundamental  Laws  of  Human  Behavior." 

$2.00,  Badger. 
Miller,  I.  E. — "The  Psychology  of  Thinking."     $1.25,   Mac- 

millan. 
Pillsbury,    W.    B—  "The   Psychology   of   Reasoning."     $1.50, 

Appleton. 
Ribot,  Th. — "Evolution  of  General  Ideas."     $1.25,  Open  Court. 
Swift,  E.  J. — "Mind  in  the  Making."     $1.50,  Scribner. 

SOCIAL  PHASES   OF   THE   HABITS   OF   STUDY 

Bagley,  W.  C— "The  Educative  Process."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

"Classroom  Management."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

Carlton,  F.  T. — "Education  and  Industrial  Evolution."  $1.25, 
Macmillan. 

Chancellor,  W.  A. — "Motives,  Ideals  and  Values  in  Educa- 
tion."    $1.75,  Houghton. 

Charters,  W.  W.  — "Methods  of  Teaching"  (2d  Edition). 
$1.10,  Peterson. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  777 

Cooley,  C.  H. — "Human  Nature  and  the  Social  Order."     $1.50, 

Scribner. 
Davenport,  E. — "Education  for  Efficiency."     $1.00,  Heath. 
Dewey,  J. — "Moral  Principles  in  Education."    $.35,  Houghton. 
Draper,  A.  S. — "American  Education."     $2.00,  Houghton. 
Dutton,  S.  T. — "Social  Phases  of  Education  in  the  School  and 

the  Home."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 
King,  I. — "Social  Aspects  of  Education."     $1.60,  Macmillan. 
Kirkpatrick,  E.  A. — "Fundamentals  of  Child  Study."     $1.25, 

Macmillan. 
McDougall,  W. — "Social  Psychology."     $1.50,  Luce. 
Mead,  G.  H. — "Psychology  of  Social  Consciousness."     Science, 

vol.  XXXI,  p.  688. 
Munsterberg,    H. — "Psychology    and    the    Teacher."     $1.50, 

Appleton. 
Ross,  E.  A. — "Social  Psychology."     $1.50,  Macmillan. 
Scott,  C.  A. — "Social  Education."     $1.50,  Ginn. 
Vincent,   G.  E. — "The   Social   Mind  and  Education."     $1.25, 

Macmillan. 
Yocum,  A.  D. — "Culture  Discipline  and  Democracy."     $1.50, 

Sower. 

CHAPTER   XII 

HOME    AND    SCHOOL    ASSOCIATIONS — THE    HIGH    SCHOOL'S 
RIGHT    ARM 

A 

GENERAL 

Barnum,  Mrs.  O.  S. — "Women's  Work  in  the  Socialization  of 
the  Schools."     Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1908,  pp.  1231-36. 
Discussion,  pp.  1237-38. 

Baxter,  S. — "Widening  the  Use  of  the  Public  Schoolhouse." 
World's  Work,  5:3247-48,  March,  1903. 

Berry,  G. — "Open  Schoolhouse."  Bookman,  34:517-24,  Jan., 
1912. 

Bobbitt,  J.  F. — "A  City  School  as  a  Community  Art  and  Musi- 
cal Centre."  Elementary  School  Teacher,  12:119-26, 
Nov.,  1911. 


778  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bridgman,  L.  B.,  comp.  Partial  list  of  References  concerning  the 
Socialization  of  the  Public  Schools.  Western  Journal  of 
Education,  10:222-23,  March,  1905. 

Burns,  R.  L. — "Schools  as  Community  Centres."  Pennsyl- 
vania School  Journal,  57:490-92,  May,  1909. 

Butterfield,  K.  L. — "Neighborhood  Co-operation  in  School  Life." 
"The  Hesperia  Movement."  Review  of  Reviews,  23:443- 
46,  April,  1901. 

Carlton,  F.  T. — "The  School  as  a  Factor  in  Industrial  and  So- 
cial Problems."     Education,  24:74-80,  Oct.,  1903.* 

Crosby,  D.  J. — "How  May  the  Rural  Schools  Be  More  Closely 
Related  to  the  Life  and  Needs  of  the  People?"  Proc. 
N.  E.  A.,  1909,  pp.  969-71.     Discussion,  pp.  971-74. 

Crosby,  D.  J.,  and  Crocheron,  B.  H.— "Community  Work  in  the 
Rural  High  School."  Department  of  Agriculture.  Year- 
book, 1910.  Washington,  Government  Printing  Office, 
191 1,  pp.  177-88,  illustrated. 

Curtis,  H.  S. — "The  Rural  School  as  a  Social  Centre."  Social 
Centre,  1:92-94,  Dec,  191 2. 

"City  School  as  a  Community  Centre,  The."  National 
Society  for  the  Study  of  Education.  Tenth  Year-book, 
Part  1.  University  of  Chicago  Press,  79  pp.,  8vo. 
Contents:  Adult  education  and  the  New  York  plan  of 
Public  Lectures,  by  H.  C.  Leipziger  and  C.  A.  Perry; 
Public  Lectures,  the  Cleveland  plan,  by  Sarah  E.  Hyre; 
Vacation  Playgrounds,  by  R.  D.  Warden;  Organized 
Athletics,  by  C.  W.  Crampton;  Evening  Recreation  Cen- 
tres, by  E.  W.  Stitt;  The  Rochester  Civic  and  Social 
Centres,  by  E.  J.  Ward;  Home  and  School  Associations, 
by  Mrs.  E.  C.  Grice;  The  Community-Used  School,  by 
C.  A.  Perry;  Bibliography  of  City  and  Rural  Schools  as 
Community  Centres. 

Dewey,  J. — "The  School  as  a  Social  Centre."  Annual  Report, 
N.  E.  A.,  1902,  pp.  373-83. 

Dutton,  S.  T. — "The  School  as  a  Social  Centre."  In  his  "School 
Management,"  pp.  213-24.     $1.00,  Scribner. 

Grice,  M.  van  M. — "Home  and  School  United  in  Widening  Cir- 
cles of  Inspiration  and  Service,"  with  prefatory  notes  by 
Elmer  Ellsworth  Brown  and  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh. 
Philadelphia,  C.  Sower  Co.  (1909),  154  pp.,  illus.,  i6mo. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  779 

Hanmer,  L.  F— "The  Wider  Use  of  the  School  Plant."  In  New 
York  State  Teachers'  Association.  Proceedings,  191 1, 
pp.  68-73. 

Leipziger,  H.  M. — "The  Family  and  the  School."  Social  Edu- 
cation Quarterly,  1:18-26,  Jan.,  1908. 

Mowry,  D. — "Use  of  School  Buildings  for  Other  than  School 
Purposes."     Education,  29:92-96,  Oct.,  1908. 

"Wider  Use  of  the  School  Plant."     Introduction  by  Luther 

Halsey  Gulick,  M.D.,  New  York,  Charities  Publication 
Committee,  1910.  XIV,  423  pp.,  illus.,  8vo.  (Russell 
Sage  Foundation  Publications.)  "References"  at  the 
end  of  most  of  the  chapters. 

Nelson,  N.  O. — "The  Rural  School  as  a  Social  Centre."  In 
Conference  for  Educational  Review,  33 :  141-43,  Dec,  191 1. 
Gives  the  activities  which  the  rural  social  centre  must 
be  prepared  to  carry  on  in  addition  to  those  which  the 
social  centre  performs  in  cities. 

"Rural  School  as  a  Community  Centre,  The."  National  So- 
ciety for  the  Study  of  Education.  Tenth  Year-book, 
Part  2.  Chicago,  University  of  Chicago  Press,  191 1, 
75  pp.,  8vo. 

Contents:  The  Rural  School  as  a  General  Educational 
Centre:  (a)  Community  work  in  the  Agricultural  High 
School,  by  B.  H.  Crocheron;  (b)  The  District  Schools  in  a 
County  as  Educational  and  Social  Centres,  by  Jessie 
Field.  Rural  School  Extension:  (a)  Through  Boys'  and 
Girls'  Agricultural  Clubs,  by  F.  W.  Howe;  (b)  Relation  of 
Rural  School  to  Better  Housekeeping,  by  E.  C.  Bishop; 
Rural  School  Libraries,  by  A.  B.  Graham;  The  Rural 
School  as  a  Means  of  Developing  an  Appreciation  of  Art 
(indoor  and  outdoor),  by  O.  J.  Kern;  Organized  Recrea- 
tion in  Rural  Schools,  by  M.  T.  Scudder.  The  General 
Problem  of  the  Relation  of  the  Rural  School  to  Com- 
munity Needs — a  Summary,  by  E.  M.  Davis;  Bibliog- 
raphy prepared  by  the  Bureau  of  Education  and  editor. 

Scudder,  H.  E. — "The  Schoolhouse  as  a  Centre."  Atlantic 
Monthly,  77:103-19,  Jan.,  1896. 

Smith,  H.  L— "  The  Full  Use  of  the  School  Plant."     Educational 
Journal,  11:353-60,  March,  191 1. 
Questionnaire  and  answers. 


780  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Spargo,  J. — "Social  Service  of  a  City  School."     Craftsman,  10: 

605-13,  Aug.,  1906. 
Swift,  E.  J. — "Community  Demands  upon  the  Public  School." 

In   National    Conference    of    Charities    and    Correction. 

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June,  July,  191 2. 
Wirt,    W. — "Utilization   of   School   Plant."     American   School 

Board  Journal,  44:24,  March,  1912. 
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1908,  illustrated. 

"Every  principal  was  granted  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
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the  Home  and  School  Associations.") 

B 

women's  betterment  clubs:  work 

(Not    Including    References    to    Mothers'    Clubs    and    Parent- 
Teacher  Associations) 
Barnum,  Mrs.  O.  S. — "Women's  Work  in  the  Socialization  of 

the  Schools."     Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1908,  pp.  1231-36. 
"Club  and  the  School,  The."     American  Academy  of  Political 

and  Social  Science.     Annals,  28:207-12,  Sept.,  1906. 
Grenfell,  H.  L. — "The  Influence  of  Woman's  Organizations  on 

Public  Education."     Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1907,  pp.  125-33. 
Moore,   E.   P. — "Educational  Work  of  Women's   Clubs."     In 

association  of  collegiate  alumnae.     Publications.     Series 

3,  PP-  27-35,  Feb.,  1900. 
Mumford,   Mrs.   B.  B. — -"Report  upon  Woman's  Educational 

Work    in    Virginia."     Southern    Educational   Review,    3: 

970-72,  June,  July,  1906. 

C 

mothers'  clubs  and  parent-teacher  associations 

Brown,  E.  E. — -"How  Can  the  Home  and  School  Get  into  Closer 
Relations?"  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  The  After  School  Club 
of  America,  8  pp.,  nmo. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  781 

"Home  and  School  League  of  Philadelphia."  Report,  1-6, 
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"How  to  Start  a  Mothers'  Club."  Progressive  Teacher,  18: 
14-15,  Sept.,  12. 

Perry,  C.  A. — "Recreation  the  Basis  of  Association  Between 
Parents  and  Teachers."  New  York  City,  Department 
of  Child  Hygiene  of  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation  (191 1), 
13  pp.,  8vo.  (Russell  Sage  Foundation.  Department  of 
Child  Hygiene.  Pamphlet.)  Health,  Education,  Recrea- 
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D 

RECREATION 

Scudder,  M.  T. — "Rural  Recreation,  a  Socializing  Factor." 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science,  40:175-90,  March,  191 2. 

Stern,  E.  C. — "The  Organization  and  Administration  of  Recrea- 
tion and  Social  Centre  Work."  American  School  Board 
Journal,  45:10,  51,  Oct.,  1912. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE   SCHOOL'S   CO-OPERATIVE   AGENCIES 

Addams,   J. — "Democracy   and   Social   Ethics."     $1.25,   Mac- 

millan. 
Andrews,  F.  F. — "Parents'  Associations  and  Public  Schools." 

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"Parents'  Associations  in  Common  Schools."     School  Jour- 
nal, 75:490-96,  Nov.  30,  1907. 
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366-67,  Nov.  3,  1906. 
Arnold,  C.  B. — "Parent-Teacher  Work  Among  the  Foreigners." 

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1908. 
Baldwin,  J.  M. — "Individual  and  Society."     $1.50,  Badger. 
Bergdell,  Mrs.  G.  M. — "Our  Home  and  School  League."     School 

Progress,  3:5-7,  Jan.,  191 2. 


782  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bright,  C.  C. — "The  Scope  of  Parents'  Associations  and  Pro- 
gramme." Child-Welfare  Magazine,  5:119-20,  April, 
1911. 

Brown,  E.  E. — "The  Work  of  Women's  Organizations  in  Educa- 
tion."    Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1908,  pp.  1218-22. 

Brumbaugh,  M.  G. — "Functions  of  Parent-Teacher  Associa- 
tions." National  Congress  of  Mothers'  Magazine,  1908, 
pp.  219-24. 

Buller,  N.  B. — "Work  of  the  Associations,"  School  Review, 
16:77-88,  1908. 

Bulletin,  University  of  Wisconsin,  General  Series,  nos.  292,  301, 
302,  306,  310-14,  317-18,  323,  327,  330. 

Burnham,  W.  H. — "The  Group  as  a  Stimulus  to  Mental  Ac- 
tivity."   Science,  new  series,  1910,  vol.  XXXI,  pp.  761-67. 

Butler,  N. — "Parents'  Associations."  School  Review,  16:78-88, 
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California  Congress  of  Mothers. — "History  of  California  Con- 
gress of  Mothers  and  Parent-Teacher  Associations."  Los 
Angeles,  Cal.,  1908,  45  pp.,  front.,  ports.,  8vo. 

Carlton,  F.  T. — "Home  and  School."  Education,  26:209-16, 
Dec,  1905. 

Child-Welfare  Magazine.  Published  by  National  Congress  of 
Mothers,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  vols.  IV-VII,  1909-13. 

Close,  A.  D. — "Bethany  Parents'  Club  of  Brooklyn."  Kinder- 
garten Review,  18:431-36,  March,  1908. 

Davis,  M.  M. — "Psychological  Interpretations  of  Society." 
$2.00,  Longmans. 

Denison,  E. — "The  Making  of  Citizens  in  our  Public  Schools." 
American  City,  Sept.,  191 1. 

"Helping  School  Children."     $1.40,  Harper. 

Dewey,  J. — "The  School  and  Society."  $1.00,  University  of 
Chicago  Press. 

Dutton,  S.  T.— "Social  Phases  of  Education."  $1.25,  Mac- 
millan. 

Ellis,  A.  C. — "Circular  of  Information  on  Organization  and 
Conduct  of  Parents'  and  Teachers'  Clubs."  Austin, 
University  of  Texas,  1899,  19  pp. 

Fitchburg,  Mass. — "The  Kindergarten  Mothers'  League." 
Kindergarten  Review,  18:444-45,  March,  1908. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  783 

Fontaine,  E.  C. — "Home  and  School  League  Organization  in 
Worcester  County  for  Improving  Relations  between  Par- 
ents and  School  System."  Atlantic  Educational  Journal, 
7:11-13,  Sept.,  ion. 

Fuller,  S. — "On  Parents'  Associations  in  Connection  with  the 
Public  Schools."     8,  p.  80. 

Goodwin,  E.  J. — "School  and  Home."  School  Review,  16:320-9, 
1908. 

Grice,  Mrs.  E.  C. — "Conference  on  Parent-Teacher  Associa- 
tions." National  Congress  of  Mothers'  Magazine,  2:3-8, 
Sept.,  1907. 

Grice,  Mrs.  M.  V. — "Home  and  School."     $.60,  Sower. 

"Home  and   School   Associations;   Object   of   the   Work." 

Chicago,  191 1,  4,  p.  80.  Reprinted  from  tenth  Year- 
book, part  I,  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of 
Education,  VII. 

"  How  Can  the  Home  and  School  Get  into  Closer  Relations?  " 

Philadelphia,  Pa.  The  After-School  Club  of  America 
(1910),  8,  p.  120. 

"  Parent-Teacher  Associations."  National  Congress  of  Moth- 
ers' Magazine,  11:74-76,  Feb.,  1907. 

Hall,  G.  S. — "Some  Social  Aspects  of  Education."  Educational 
Review,  23:443;  15:147- 

Hanna,  J.  C. — "The  Oak  Park  Parents'  and  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion."    School  Journal,  73:490-92,  Dec,  1906. 

Harding,  C.  F. — "The  Parents'  Association  of  the  School  of 
Education."     School  Review,  18:153-58,  March,  1910. 

Hefferan,  Mrs.  H.  M. — "Notes  from  Parents'  Associations." 
Elementary  School  Teacher,  5:372-75,  Feb.,  1905. 

Hefferan,  Mrs.  W.  S. — "Suggestions  for  Mothers'  and  Parents' 
Circles."  National  Congress  of  Mothers'  Magazine,  4: 
8-10,  Sept.,  1909. 

Hersey,  Mrs.  H.  J. — "Parents'  Obligation  to  the  School."  Proc. 
N.  E.  A.,  1909,  pp.  1012-6. 

"Home  and  School  League  of  Philadelphia."  Reports  1-6,  1906- 
11.     Address,  112  So.  13th  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"How  to  Start  a  Mothers'  Club."  Progressive  Teacher,  18:14- 
15,  Sept.,  1912. 

Johnston,  E.  L—  "The  Ideal  Mothers'  Club."  Kindergarten 
Review,  21:628-31,  June,  1911. 


784  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

King,  I. — "Social  Aspects  of  Education."     $1.60,  Macmillan. 

"Education  for  Social  Efficiency."     $1.50,  Appleton. 

Ledyard,  M.  E. — "Parent-Teacher  Associations  in  California." 
In  National  Congress  of  Mothers.  First  International 
Congress  in  America  for  the  Welfare  of  the  Child,  1908. 
Published  by  the  National  Congress  of  Mothers'  Magazine, 
1908,  pp.  225-28. 

Ledyard,  M.  E.,  and  others. — "Parent-Teacher  Work  from  Coast 
to  Coast."  National  Congress  of  Mothers'1  Magazine,  3: 
4-10,  Sept.,  1908. 

Lindsay,  S.  M. — "New  Duties  and  Opportunities  for  Public 
Schools."  Social  Educational  Monthly,  March,  1907, 
p.  79. 

McDougall,  W. — "Introduction  to  Social  Psychology."  $1.50, 
Luce. 

Macmillan,  J.  V. — "Local  Association  of  Teachers  and  Parents." 
School  Topics,  1:428-34,  May,  1906. 

Mead,  G.  H. — "Social  Consciousness  and  Consciousness  of 
Meaning."     Psychological  Bulletin,  VII,  no.  12. 

Montgomery,  Mrs.  F.  H. — "Meeting  of  Parents'  Association." 
Elementary  School  Teacher,  6:55-62,  1905. 

Moore,  Mrs.  E.  A. — "Meeting  of  the  Parents'  Association." 
Elementary  School  Teacher,  6:167-70,  1905;  6:361-64, 
March,  1906. 

Murchie,  Mrs.  W.  A. — "Work  of  a  Parent-Teacher  Associa- 
tion."     Augusta,  Me.,  191 2,  6,  p.  80. 

National  Congress  of  Mothers.  Literature  published  in  Na- 
tional Congress  of  Mothers'  quarterly  report,  1:166-67, 
March,  1901.  How  to  organize  parents'  associations  or 
mothers'  circles  in  public  schools,  with  suggestions  for 
programmes.  National  Congress  of  Mothers,  227  So.  6th 
Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

National  Congress  of  Mothers  and  Parent-Teacher  Associations. 
Triennial  hand-book,  1908-11.  48,  p.  160;  1911-14. 
70,  p.  160. 

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National  Congress  of  Mothers,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  vols. 
I— III,   1900-09.     Continued  as  Child-Welfare  Magazine. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  785 

Oldham,  B.  M'L.— "Influence  of  the  Mothers'  Club."  Pro- 
gressive Teacher,  18:14-15,  Feb.,  1912. 

"Mother  Club  Work."     Progressive  Teacher,  18:9-11,  Oct., 

1912. 

O'Shea,  M.  V. — "Social  Development  and  Education."  $2.00, 
Houghton. 

"Parent-School  Club,  A."  Religious  Education,  6:574-77,  Feb., 
191 2.  Tells  of  the  steps  of  organization  and  the  early- 
activities  of  a  recently  organized  club. 

Perry,  C.  A. — -"Recreation  the  Basis  of  Association  between 
Parents  and  Teachers."  New  York  City,  Department  of 
Child  Hygiene  of  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation  (191 1), 
13,  p.  80.  (Russell  Sage  Foundation.  Department  of 
Child  Hygiene.  Pamphlet  No.  87,  Health,  Education, 
Recreation.) 

■ "Wider  Use  of  the  School  Plant."  $1.25,  Charities  Publish- 
ing Co. 

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tional Congress  of  Mothers'  Magazine,  2:89-92,  Jan., 
1908,  illustrated. 

"Public  School  Relief  Association  and  Mothers'  Meetings," 
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Ross,  E.  A. — "Social  Psychology."     $1.50,  Macmillan. 

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azine, 2:93-95,  Jan.,  1908. 

Smith,  L.  R. — "Mother's  Day."  Primary  School,  14:205-206, 
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Stowe,  A.  M. — "The  School  Club."  Elementary  School  Teacher, 
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Swift,  E.  J. — "Youth  and  the  Race."     $1.50,  Scribner. 

Vincent,  G.  E. — "The  Social  Mind  and  Education."  1897. 
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786  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  INTERNAL  GOVERNMENT  AS  AN  EXPRESSION  OF  THE  SOCIAL 
CHARACTER  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

Brinton,  D.  G. — "The  Basis  of  Social  Relations,"  chaps.  II  (part 
I),  III  (part  II).     $1.50,  Putnam. 

Eliot,  C.  W. — "Education  for  Efficiency."  Riverside  Educa- 
tional monographs.     $.35,  Houghton. 

Giddings,  F.  H. — "Elements  of  Sociology."     $1.10,  Macmillan. 

Hollister,  H.  A. — "High  School  Administration,"  chaps.  VII, 
IX,  X,  XV,  XVII.     $1.50,  Heath. 

Johnston,  C.  H.,  Editor. — "High  School  Education,"  chap.  V, 
by  E.  C.  Elliott.     $1.50,  Scribner.' 

King,  I. — "Social  Aspects  of  Education."     $1.60,  Macmillan. 

"Education  for  Social  Efficiency,"  chap.  V.     $1.50,  Ap- 

pleton. 

Klapper,  P. — "Principles  of  Educational  Practice,"  chaps.  VII, 
VIII,  IX,  XXV.     $1.75,  Appleton. 

O'Shea,  M.  V. — "Social  Development  and  Education."  $2.00, 
Houghton. 

Puffer,  J.  A.— "The  Boy  and  His  Gang."     $1.00,  Houghton. 

Ross,  E.  A. — "  Social  Control."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

"Social  Psychology."     $1.50,  Macmillan. 

Sachs,  J. — -"The  American  Secondary  School."  $1.10,  Macmil- 
lan. 

Thomas,  W.  I. — "Source  Book  for  Social  Origins."  $2.75, 
The  University  of  Chicago  Press. 

Weeks,  R.  M. — "The  People's  School."  Riverside  Educational 
Monographs.     $.60,  Houghton. 

Weyl,  W.  E .—  "The  New  Democracy,"  chaps.  XI,  XIV,  XVI, 
XIX,  XX.     $2.00,  Macmillan. 

References  to  Periodical  Literature: 
Butler,  N.  M. — "Vocational  Preparation  as  a  Social  Problem." 

Educational  Review,  45:289. 
Findlay,  J.  J. — "The  Corporate  Life  in  the  High  School,  II." 

School  Review,  16:601. 
Gibbs,  L.  R. — -"Making  a  High  School  a  Centre  of  Social  Life." 

School  Review,  1 7 :  634. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  787 

Johnson,  F.  W. — "The  Social  Organization  of  the  High  School." 

School  Review,  17:665. 
King,  I. — "The  Problem  and  Content  of  a  Course  in  the  Social 

Aspects   of    Education."     Journal   of  Educational   Psy- 
chology, II  :I.     23/. 
Lange,  A.  F. — "Preparation  of  High  School  Teachers."     Proc. 

N.  E.  A.,  1907,  p.  718. 
Mead,    G.    H. — "The    Psychology   of    Social    Consciousness." 

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Pressland,  A.  J. — "The  English  Public  School  as  a  Training 

Ground  of  Citizenship."     Educational  Review,  40:499. 
Snedden,  D.  S. — "History  Study  as  an  Instrument  in  the  Social 

Education  of  Children."     Journal  of  Pedagogy,  19:259. 
Suzzallo,  H. — "Education  as  a  Social  Study."     School  Review, 

16:330. 
Tucker,   W.  J.— "How  Shall  Pupils  Be  Taught  to  Estimate 

Themselves?"     School  Review,  13:597. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS  IN  SERVICE  AS 
AN  IMPORTANT  FACTOR  IN  THE  SOCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  OF 
HIGH   SCHOOLS 

Baldwin,  W.  A. — "The  High  School:  Its  Weaknesses  and  Sug- 
gested Modifications."     Report  made  to  the  New  En- 
gland   Association   of   School    Superintendents.    Boston, 
New  England  Publishing  Co.,  1910,  12  pp.  i2mo. 
Reprinted  from  Journal  of  Education.     Boston.     Summarizes 
criticism  of  high  schools  under  two  general  heads:   1.  The  work 
is  too  much  dominated  by  colleges.     2.  The  teaching  is  not  peda- 
gogical.    Makes   recommendations   under   four   general   heads: 
1.  Standardization.    2.  Modification  of  curriculum.    3.  Profes- 
sional Training  of  Teachers.   4.  Method. 
Balliet,   T.   M—  "High   School  of  the   Future."     Educational 

Foundations,  18:209-16,  Nov.,  1906. 
Bell,  S.— "A  Study  of  the  Teacher's  Influence."     Pedagogical 

Seminary,  V,  p.  493. 
Book,  W.  F.— "The  High  School  Teacher  from  the  Pupil's  Point 
of  View."     Pedagogical  Seminary,  Sept.,  1905. 


788  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Boyce,  A.  C. — "Qualities  of  Merit  in  Secondary  Teachers." 
Journal  of  Educational  Psychology,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  144-157. 

Burnham,  W.  H. — "Some  Aspects  of  the  Teaching  Profession." 
Forum,  June,  1898. 

Brown,  J.  F. — "The  Training  of  Teachers  for  Secondary 
Schools."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

Cary,  C.  P. — "The  Opportunities  of  the  Modern  High  School." 
Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1910,  pp.  457-62. 

Clement,  J.  H. — "A  Measuring  Rod  for  Teaching  Efficiency." 
Kansas  School  Magazine,  March,  1913. 

King,  I. — -"The  Social  Aspects  of  Education,"  chap.  XVI, 
article  by  J.  T.  Ray.     $1.60,  Macmillan. 

Johnson,  F.  W. — "The  Social  Organization  of  the  High  School." 
School  Review,  17:665-80,  Dec,  1909. 

Johnston,  C.  H.,  Ed.— "High  School  Education,"  XXII,  555, 
p.  12.     Bibliography  1471-53 1.     $1.50,  Scribner. 

Judd,  C.  H—  "On  Scientific  Study  of  High  School  Problems." 
School  Review,  18:84-98,  Feb.,  1910. 

"The  Meaning  of  Secondary  Education."     School  Review, 

21:11-25,  Jan.,  1913. 

Lange,  A.  F. — "Self-Directed  High  School  Development."  Uni- 
versity of  California  Chronicle,  12:381-95,  Oct.,  1910. 

Moore,  E.  C. — "Present  Tendencies  in  Secondary  Education." 
Burlington,  Vt.  University  of  Burlington  (191 1),  20  pp., 
8vo. 

Ruediger,  W.  C. — Agencies  for  the  Improvement  of  Teachers. 
United  States  Bureau  of  Education.    Bulletin,  1911,110.3. 

Ruediger,  W.  C,  and  Strayer,  G.  D—  "The  Quality  of  Merit  in 
Teachers."  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology,  vol.  I, 
pp.  272-278. 

Sachs,  J. — "The  American  Secondary  School  and  Some  of  Its 
Problems."  $1.10,  Macmillan.  Appendix  contains  ref- 
erences. 

"Departmental  Organization  of  Secondary  Schools."  Edu- 
cation, 27:484-96,  April,  1907. 

Syllabus  of  a  general  course  on  the  theory  and  practice  of 

teaching  in  the  secondary  school.  New  York  City, 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  31  pp.,  8vo. 
(Columbia  University,  Teachers  College,  Extension  Syl- 
labuses, Series  A,  no.  16.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  789 

Thorndike,  E.  L. — "The  Teaching  Staff  of  Secondary  Schools 
in  the  United  States,  Amount  of  Education,  Lejigth  of 
Experience,  Salaries."  Washington,  Government  Print- 
ing Office,  1909,  60  pp.,  8vo.  (United  States  Bureau  of 
Education.     Bulletin,  1909,  no.  4.) 

Tucker,  H.  R. — "Government  in  the  High  School."  Education, 
25:1-11,  81-89,  152-61,  Sept.-Nov.,  1904. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    SOCIAL    ACTIVITIES    OF    HIGH 
SCHOOL    STUDENTS 

Brown,  J.  F. — "The  American  High  School."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

Chesley,  A.  M. — "  Social  Activities  for  Men  and  Boys."  Asso- 
ciation Press. 

Crousen,  B. — "Pupil  Self-Government. "     $1.00. 

Forbush,  W.  B. — "The  Coming  Generation."     $1.50,  Appleton. 

Gibbs,  L.  R. — '"Making  a  High  School  a  Centre  of  Social  Life." 
School  Review,  17:634. 

Hollister,  H.  A. — "High  School  Administration."     $1.50,  Heath. 

Johnson,  F.  W. — "The  Social  Organization  of  the  High  School." 
School  Review,  17:665,  1909. 

Keller,  P.  G. — "Open  School  Organizations."  School  Review, 
13:10-14,  1905. 

King,  I. — "Social  Aspects  of  Education."     $1.60,  Macmillan. 

O'Shea,  M.  V. — "Social  Development  and  Education."  $2.00, 
Houghton. 

Owen,  W.  B—  "The  Problem  of  the  High  School  Fraternity." 
School  Review,  14:492,  1906. 

■ "Social   Education   through   the  School."     School  Review, 

15: 11-26,  1907. 

Religious  Education,  June,  1913.     "Better  High  Schools." 

Religious  Education,  February,  1913.  "Social  Education  in  the 
High  School."  A  symposium  contributed  by  William 
McAndrew,  Irving  King,  Edgar  J.  Swift,  Charles  Mc- 
Kenny,  Franklin  W.  Johnson,  Colin  A.  Scott,  James  H. 
Tufts,  Charles  E.  Rugh,  Jesse  B.  Davis,  Frank  C.  Sharp, 
J.  W.  Carr,  H.  B.  Wilson,  Percival  Chubb. 

Sheldon,  H.  D. — "Student  Life  and  Customs." 


790  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Stamper,  A.  W. — "The  Financial  Administration  of  Student 
Organizations."     School  Review,  19:25. 

Tyler,  J.  M—  "The  Boy  and  the  Girl  in  High  School."  Educa- 
tion, 26:462. 

Wetzel,  A. — "High  School  Student  Organizations."  School 
Review,  13:429. 

CHAPTER   XVII 

HIGH    SCHOOL    ATHLETICS    AND    GYMNASTICS    AS    AN   EXPRESSION 
OF    THE    CORPORATE    LIFE    OF    THE    SCHOOL 

Anderson,  W.  G.— "Light  Gymnastics."     $1.50,  Maynard. 

Angel,  E.  D—  "Play."     Little,  Brown. 

Bancroft,  J.  H.— "School  Gymnastics."     $1.75,  Heath. 

Bancroft,  J.  M. — "Games  for  the  Playground,  Home,  School, 
and  Gymnasium."     $1.50,  Macmillan. 

Bishop,  E.  M. — "Americanized  Delsarte  Culture."  Published 
by  the  author,  Chautauqua,  N.  Y. 

Burchenal,  E. — "Folk  Dances  and  Singing  Games."     Schirmer. 

Crampton,  C.  W. — "Folk  Dance  Book."     $1.50,  Barnes. 

Davison,  W.  J. — "Gymnastic  Dancing."  $1.00,  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
Press. 

Dudley  and  Kellor. — "Athletic  Games  in  the  Education  of 
Women."     $1.25,  Holt. 

Galbraith,  A.  M. — "Personal  Hygiene  and  Physical  Training 
for  Women."     $2.00,  Saunders. 

Graham,  J.,  and  Clark,  E.  H. — "Practical  Track  and  Field  Ath- 
letics."    $1.00,  Duffield. 

Gulick,  L.  H. — "Physical  Education  by  Muscular  Exercise." 
$.75,  Blackiston's. 

Hough,  J.,  and  Sedgwick,  W.  T. — "Human  Mechanism."  $2.40, 
Ginn. 

Johnson,  G.  E.— "Education  by  Plays  and  Games."     $.90,  Ginn. 

Jones,  A.  K.,  System  of  Roberts,  R.  J. — "Classified  Gymnastic 
Notes."     W.  F.  Adams  Co. 

Koch  and  others. — "Essays  Concerning  the  German  System  of 
Gymnastics."     Freidenker  Pub.  Co. 

Leland  and  Leland. — "Playgrounds  Technic."     $2.50,  Bassette. 

McCurdy,  J.  M. — "Bibliography."  Press  of  Springfield  Col- 
lege, Springfield,  Mass. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  791 

McKenzie,    R.    T. — "Exercise    in    Education    and    Medicine." 

$5.00,  W.  B.  Saunders. 
Posse,  N.  B. — "Swedish  System  of  Educational  Gymnastics.'' 

$.50,  Lee  and  Shepard. 
Sargent,  D.  A.— "Health,  Strength  and  Power."     $3.00,  H.  M. 

Caldwell  Co. 
Y.  M.   C.  A.,  International  Committee  of. — "Nomenclature." 

New  York. 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

STUDENT   DEBATING    ACTIVITIES1 

Churchill,  G.  B. — "Public  Speaking  Work  in  the  Secondary 
School."     School  Review,  11:369-87,  April,  1903. 

Foster,  W.  F. — "Intercollegiate  Debates."     Nation,  86:420-21. 

Gardner,  B.  L.— "Debating  in  the  High  School."  School  Re- 
view, 19:534-45;  20:120-24. 

Green,  C. — "Debating  at  School."     Nation,  90:637. 

Hartwell,  E.  C. — "Debating  in  High  School."  School  Reviciv, 
19:689-93. 

Kittridge,  H.  W. — "Function  of  the  High  School  Debating  So- 
ciety."    School  Review,  10:  292. 

Lyon,  L.  S. — "Inter  and  Intra  High  School  Contests."  Educa- 
tion, 33:38-79- 

Stowe,  A.  M. — "Motivation  of  Secondary  School  Debate." 
School  Review,  19:546-49. 

"A  Danger  in  College  Debates."  Literary  Digest,  pp.  14,  27, 
June  28,  1913. 

CHAPTER   XX 

HIGH  SCHOOL  FRATERNITIES  AND  THE  SOCIAL  LIFE  OF  THE  SCHOOL 

i.  General 

Blanchard,  C.  A. — "Are  Fraternities  Fraternal?"  Century, 
1909,  56:641-42.  Brief  argument  against  all  secret  so- 
cieties. 

1  For  a  carefully  selected  and  adequate  bibliography  of  references  for 
public  speaking  and  voice  training,  see  Johnston's  "  High  School  Ed- 
ucation," Chapter  XII,  pp.  491-493. 


792  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Brown,  J.  F. — "Secret  Societies."  In  "The  American  High 
School,"  pp.  319-327.  Condensed  statement  concerning 
their  growth,  with  arguments  pro  and  con.  $1.40,  Mac- 
millan. 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.  S. — "Administration  of  High 
Schools,"  chap.  XX  in  "Administration  of  Public  Schools 
in  the  United  States,"  p.  378.  $1.75,  Macmillan.  A 
similar  statement  somewhat  more  condensed. 

Hard,  W.  A. — "High  School  Fraternities.  Farce,  Tragedy, 
Statesmanship."  Everybody's,  1909,  26:73-83.  Witty, 
satirical  arraignment  of  this  phenomenon  in  modern 
education. 

Hill,  R.  C. — "Secret  Societies  in  High  Schools."  Educational 
Review,  Feb.,  191 2,  43:168.  Work  done  for  master's  de- 
gree from  University  of  Colorado.  Full,  thorough  treat- 
ment of  the  whole  question  historically,  with  citations  of 
opinion  and  discussions  of  legal  questions  involved.  Ac- 
companied by  a  good  bibliography  which  has  been  freely 
used  in  the  preparation  of  this. 

Hollister,  H.  A. — "High  School  Fraternities."  Several  para- 
graphs in  his  "High  School  Administration."  $1.50, 
Heath,  pp.  45-46,  181,  183,  196.  Discussion  of  various 
phases  and  problems  of  this  question. 

Melius,  M. — "Are  Secret  Societies  a  Danger  to  Our  High 
Schools?"  Review  of  Reviews,  1907,  36:338-341.  Thor- 
ough, comprehensive  discussion  of  the  problem  from  all 
points  of  view. 

Morrison,  G.  B. — "Secret  Fraternities  in  the  High  School." 
Report  of  committee  appointed  in  1904.  Proc.  N.  E.  A., 
1905.  Full  statement  of  all  that  was  known  up  to  that 
date,  with  results  of  questionnaire  investigations  and  cita- 
tions of  opinions.  This  report  led  to  the  adoption  of 
resolutions  by  the  National  Educational  Association 
which  appear  in  the  same  volume. 

"Social  Ethics  in  High  School  Life."     School  Review,  1905, 

13  :  361-70.  Careful  discussion  of  the  fundamental  ethical 
questions  underlying  the  whole  matter. 

Smith,  S.  R. — "Questions  Regarding  Fraternities  in  Secondary 
Schools."  School  Review,  1904,  12:  2-3.  Preliminary  re- 
port of  committee  appointed  by  the  University  of  Chicago 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  793 

Annual  Conference  of  Co-operating  Schools,  and  showing 
the  elaborate  questionnaire  sent  out  by  the  committee. 

"The    Influence    of    Fraternities    in    Secondaiy   Schools." 

School  Review,  1905,  13:1-10.  Final  report  of  same  com- 
mittee, with  very  full  presentation  of  statistics  and  of 
opinions  and  arguments,  including  those  of  principals,  col- 
lege presidents,  and  members  of  the  fraternities. 

Travis,  S.  S. — "High  School  Fraternities."  Proc.  New  York 
Association  of  Academic  Principals,  1908,  pp.  83-91. 
Issued  as  Educational  Department  Bulletin,  No.  458, 
Nov.  i,  1909.     Also  in  Midland  Schools,  1909,  23:207-10. 

"High  School  Fraternities."     Education,  1909,  29:517-527. 

Historical  and  suggestive  as  to  ways  of  handling  the 
problem. 

Wells,  A.  R. — -"Secret  Societies  in  the  High  School."  Journal 
of  Education,  Jan.  5,  1911,  vol.  LXXIII,  no.  1.  Gen- 
eral discussion,  presenting  results  of  correspondence  with 
principals  and  college  presidents. 

Whitcomb,  C.  T.  C. — "Report  on  Organizations  among  New 
England  Pupils."  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education, 
Sixty-Ninth  Annual  Report,  1904-5.  Presents  results  of 
one  of  the  earliest  investigations,  with  both  favorable  and 
hostile  opinions. 
An  Address  from  the  Board  of  Education  of  Oak  Park  and 

•River  Forest  Township  High  School.     Printed  privately,  1907; 

second  edition,  191 1. 

Presents  arguments  prepared  by  teachers  of  the  school  showing 

effects  upon  boys  and  girls  separately,  both  those  within  and 

those  without  the  organizations,  and  upon  the  spirit  of  the  school. 

Elementary  School  Teacher,  1904-5,5:576-82.  Editorial.  Gen- 
eral statement  of  the  problem  to  date,  with  arraignment 
of  high  school  curriculum  as  cause. 

Elementary  School  Journal,  1904-5,  6:47-54.  Editorial.  His- 
torical statement  and  full  presentation  of  the  arguments 
for  and  against. 

Journal  of  Education,  April  16,  1908;  July  23,  1908;  July  1,  1909. 
News  items  and  brief  discussions. 

Ladies'  Home  Journal,  1907,  24:12. 

Ohio  Teacher,  1908,  28:435-36. 

Pennsylvania  School  Journal,  Feb.,  1909,  57:321-23. 


794  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

"Public  School  Fraternities."  United  States  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion. In  report  of  commissioner  for  1909,  pp.  1 13-14. 
A  brief  presentation  of  the  general  situation  to  date. 

2.  Special 

Hanna,  J.  C. — "High  School  Fraternities  as  Related  to  College 
Fraternities."  Banta's  Greek  Exchange,  191 2,  vol.  I, 
no.  I.  Read  before  the  National  Pan-Hellenic  Congress 
of  Women's  College  Fraternities,  191 2,  and  also  privately 
printed.  Shows  essential  differences  between  college  fra- 
ternities and  high  school  fraternities,  and  urges  upon  the 
former  the  responsibility  of  taking  a  stand  against  the 
latter. 

Heller,  H.  H. — "The  Social  Life  of  the  Adolescent."  Educa- 
tion, 1905,  25:579.  Incidentally  important  in  a  study 
of  the  basic  principles  involved. 

Johnson,  F.  W. — "The  Social  Organizations  of  the  High  School." 
School  Review,  1909,  17:665.  An  interesting  account  of 
the  experiments  conducted  at  the  University  of  Chicago 
High  School  in  an  attempt  to  take  care  of  the  social  life 
and  training  of  the  pupils. 

Keller,  P.  G.  W. — "Open  School  Organizations."  School  Re- 
view, 1905,  13:10-14.  An  account  of  the  various  organ- 
izations developed  and  encouraged  in  the  Manitowoc, 
Wis.,  High  School. 

Kohlsaat,  P.  B. — "Secondary  School  Fraternities  Not  a  Factor 
in  Determining  Scholarship."  School  Review,  1905,  13: 
272.  The  result  of  observations  in  detail  for  three 
quarters  in  the  Lewis  Institute,  Chicago. 

Owen,  W.  B. — "Social  Education  through  the  School."  School 
Review,  1907,  15:11-23.  A  discussion  of  the  principles 
involved  in  the  plans  for  controlling  social  education  in 
the  University  of  Chicago  High  School,  the  results  of 
which  are  described  in  Principal  Johnson's  paper  (men- 
tioned above). 

Wetzel,  A. — "Student  Organizations  in  a  High  School."  School 
Review,  1905,  13:429.  An  explanation  of  the  system  of 
handling  these  matters  in  the  Trenton,  N.  J.,  High  School, 
where  all  are  kept  close  to  the  administration. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  795 

3.  Legal 
(a)  Publications 

Fleming,  J.  D. — "The  Legal  Aspects  of  High  School  Fraterni- 
ties." Colorado  School  Journal,  1908,  23:175-178.  A 
summary  of  the  legal  questions  raised  in  the  courts  and 
the  arguments  and  decisions  up  to  date. 

Shannon,  R.  A.,  and  Pettis,  H.  S. — Reply  Brief  for  Appellant. 
Appellate  Court  of  Illinois,  first  district,  October  term, 
191 2.  Smith  v.  Board  of  Education  of  Oak  Park  and 
River  Forest  Township  High  School.  Presents  argu- 
ments defending  thesis  that  judgment  of  board  of  edu- 
cation as  to  fact  of  membership  is  not  subject  to  review 
by  the  courts. 

Wetterick,  S.  J. — "Courts  and  the  High  School  Fraternities." 
The  World  To-Day,  Dec,  1910,  19:1337-1342.  A  full, 
clear,  and  fair  discussion  of  main  legal  points  involved 
in  all  cases  that  have  come  before  the  courts,  with  their 
decisions,  and  a  forecast  of  probable  decisions  on  points 
not  yet  passed  upon.  Quoted  from  in  chap.  XV  of  this 
volume. 

(b)  List  of  Cases  Involving,  Directly  or  Indirectly,  the  Chief  Legal 
Questions  Concerning  High  School  Fraternities 

I.  Dealing  with  limitations  of  pupils'  right  to  attend  school: 

1.  Vermilion  et  al.  v.  The  State  ex  rel  Englehart,  no  S.  W., 

736. 

2.  Sherwood    v.    The    Inhabitants    of    Charleston,    8    Cush. 

(Mass.),  160. 

3.  State  ex  rel  Statland  v.  White,  82  Ind.,  278;  42  Am.  Rep., 

496.     (The  famous  "Purdue  case.") 

II.  Dealing  with  question  of  court's  interference  with  authority 

of  boards  of  education: 

4.  Wayland  v.  Hughes  et  al.,  43  Wash.,  441;  86  Pac,  642. 

(The  "Seattle  case" — passed  upon  by  Supreme  Court.) 

5.  Wilson  v.  Board  of  Education,  233  111.,  464;  84  N.  E.,  698. 

(The  first  "Chicago  case" — passed  upon  by  Supreme 
Court.) 


796  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

6.  Favorite  et  al.  v.  Board  of  Education,  235  111.,  314;  85  N.  E., 

402.     (The  second  "Chicago  case" — reaffirmation.) 

N.  B. — These  last  three  decisions  were  followed  also  by 

the  Supreme  Courts  of  Colorado  and  Kansas. 

7.  Kinzie  v.  Toms  et  al.  29  la.,  441;  105  N.  W.,  686. 

8.  Edward  Smith  v.  The  Board  of  Education  of  Oak  Park  and 

River  Forest  Township  High  School. 
N.  B. — Decided  for  plaintiff  in  Circuit  Court  and  appealed 
by  defendant  to  Appellate  Court.     Judgment  of  lower 
court  reversed  by  Appellate  Court  and  case  remanded  with 
directions  to  dismiss  the  petition. 

Involves  the  fundamental  question  of  court's  right  to  re- 
view judgment  of  a  board  of  education.  The  decision  of 
the  higher  court  contains  this  language:  "The  power  of 
the  board  to  exercise  its  honest  and  reasonable  discretion 
in  such  cases  without  the  interference  of  the  courts  is  well 
settled.  School  Directors  v.  Trustees,  66  111.,  247;  Wilson 
v.  Board  of  Education,  233  id.,  464;  Kelly  v.  City  of 
Chicago,  62  id.,  279;  Dental  Examiners fl.  Cooper,  123  id., 
227. 
III.  Dealing  with  authority  of  school  boards  over  actions  out- 
side of  school  hours: 

9.  Burdick  v.  Babcock,  31  Iowa,  562. 

10.  Kinzie  v.  Toms  et  al.  (see  No.  7  above). 

11.  State  ex  rel  Dresser  v.  Board  of  Education  of  St. 'Croix 
Falls,  135  Wis.,  619;  116  N.  W.,  332. 

12.  Lander  v.  Seaver,  32  U.  T.,  114;  Am.  Dec,  156. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   AS   A   SOCIAL   CENTRE 

Anthony,  W.  B—  "Teaching  Real  Life  in  School."  World's 
Work,  25:695-698,  April,  1913. 

Bloomfield,  M.— "The  Vocational  Guidance  of  Youth."  $.35, 
Houghton. 

Boone,  R.  G. — "Manual  Training  as  a  Socializing  Factor."  Ed- 
ucation, 22:395. 

Carr,  J.  F.— "A  School  with  a  Clear  Aim."  World's  Work,  19: 
12363.     Work  of  the  Interlaken  School,  La  Porte,  Ind. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  797 

Cubberley,  E. — "Changing  Conceptions  of  Education."  $.35, 
Houghton. 

Denison,  E. — "Helping  School  Children."     $1.40,  Harper. 

Dewey,  J. — "School  and  Society."  $1.00,  University  of  Chi- 
cago Press. 

"The    School    as    a    Social    Centre."     Elementary    School 

Teacher,  3 :  73. 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D. — "Administration  of  Public 
Education  in  the  United  States."     $1.75,  Macmillan. 

Eberhart,  A.  O—  "What  I  Am  Trying  to  Do."  World's  Work, 
25:671-675,  April,  1913. 

Eliot,  C.  W—  "The  Full  Utilization  of  a  Public  School  Plant." 
Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1903,  pp.  241-247. 

Ellwood,  C.  A. — -"Sociology  and  Modern  Social  Problems." 
Chap.  XV,  "Education  and  Social  Progress."  $1.00, 
American  Book  Co. 

Foght,  H.  W—  "The  American  Rural  School."  $1.25,  Macmil- 
lan. 

Grice,  M.  V. — "Home  and  School."  $.60,  Christopher  Sower 
Co. 

Gulick,  L.  H. — "Popular  Recreation  and  Public  Morality." 
Annals  of  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Sci- 
ence, July,  1909. 

Hanus,  P.  H. — "Vocational  Guidance  and  Public  Education." 
School  Review,  19:57. 

Jenks,  J. — "Citizenship  and  the  Schools."     $1.25,  Holt. 

Johnston,  C.  H.,  and  others. — "High  School  Education,"  vol.  I. 
$1.50,  Scribner. 

Kern,  O.  J. — "Among  Country  Schools."     $1.25,  Ginn. 

Kerschensteiner,  G. — "Education  for  Citizenship."  (Trans, 
by  A.  J.  Pressland.)     $.75,  Rand,  McNally. 

King,  I. — "Education  for  Social  Efficiency."     $1.50,  Appleton- 

"Social  Aspects  of  Education."     $1.60,  Macmillan. 

Lee,  J. — "Play  as  a  School  of  the  Citizen."  Charities,  18:486- 
491. 

Leipziger,  H.  M. — "Free  Lectures."  Critic,  28:329.  A  his- 
tory of  the  movement. 

Annual  Reports  of  Public  Lectures,  from  1889  to  date,  De- 
partment of  Education,  City  of  New  York. 


798  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Monroe,  P. — "Influence  of  the  Growing  Perception  of  Human 
Inter-relationship  on  Education."  American  Journal  of 
Sociology,  March,  1913,  p.  622. 

Mowry,  D. — "Use  of  Schoolhouses  for  Other  than  School  Pur- 
poses."    Education,  29:92. 

Parsons,  F. — "Choosing  a  Vocation."     $1.00,  Houghton. 

Perry,  C.  A. — "School  as  a  Social  Centre,"  in  Cyclopedia  of  Ed- 
ucation.    $5.00,  Macmillan. 

"Wider  Use  of  the  School  Plant."  $1.25,  Survey  As- 
sociates, Inc. 

Poole,  E. — "Chicago's  Public  Playgrounds."  Outlook,  87:775- 
781,  1907. 

Sadler,  M.  E.,  and  others.—1'  Continuation  Schools  in  England 
and  Elsewhere."  8s.  6d.,  University  Press,  Manchester, 
Eng. 

Scott,  C.  A. — "Social  Education."     $1.25,  Ginn. 

Stern,  R.  B. — "Neighborhood  Entertainments."  $.75,  Sturgis 
&  Walton. 

Stockbridge,  F.  P. — "A  University  that  Runs  a  State."  World's 
Work,  25:  699-708,  April,  1913. 

Students'  Aid  Committee  of  the  High  School  Teachers'  Asso- 
ciation of  New  York  City,  E.  W.  Weaver,  Chairman. — 
"Choosing  a  Career"  and  other  vocational  bulletins. 

Tenth  Year-book  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Edu- 
cation. Part  I,  "The  City  School  as  a  Community  Cen- 
tre"; Part  II,  "The  Rural  School  as  a  Community 
Centre."  Edited  by  the  Secretary,  S.  Chester  Parker, 
University  of  Chicago.     Price  of  each  part,  $.75. 

Ward,  E.  J. — "Rochester  Social  Centres."  The  Playground 
Association,  Proceedings,  3:387-395,  1910. 

Ward,  E.  J.,  and  others. — "The  Social  Centre."     $1.50,  Appleton. 

Ward,  L. — "Applied  Sociology."  Two  editions,  $2.50  and  $3.00, 
Ginn. 

Whitney,  F.  L. — "High  School  Extension  in  Agriculture."  Amer- 
ican School  Board  Journal,  46: 15,  May,  1913. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  799 


CHAPTER   XXII 

CONTINUATION   WORK   IN   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Bibliography  A 

Addams,  J. — "Democracy  and  Social  Ethics."  $1.25,  Mac- 
millan. 

Carlton,  F.  T. — "Education  and  Industrial  Evolution."  $1.25, 
Macmillan. 

Carmen,  G.  N. — "Co-operation  of  School  and  Shop."  School 
Review,  18 :  108. 

Cooley,  E.  G. — "Vocational  Education  in  Europe." 

"The     Continuation     School."     American    School    Board 

Journal,  45:  n. 

Cubberley,  E.  B. — "Does  the  Present  Trend  toward  Voca- 
tional Education  Threaten  Liberal  Culture?"  School 
Review,  19:454. 

Davenport,  E. — "Education  for  Efficiency."     $1.00,  Heath. 

Dean,  A.  D. — "Industrial  Education  as  a  State  Policy." 

Forbes,  G.  M. — "Organization  and  Administration  of  Indus- 
trial Schools."     American  School  Board  Journal,  46:11. 

Gibson,  C.  B. — "Recent  Tendencies  toward  Industrial  Educa- 
tion in  Europe  and  America." 

Hanus,  P.  H. — "Beginnings  in  Industrial  Education."  $1.00, 
Houghton. 

Kerschensteiner,  G. — "The  School  of  the  Future."  School  and 
Home  Education,  31:278. 

"Fundamental  Principles  of  Continuation  Schools."     School 

Review  19: 162. 

"Organization  of  the  Continuation  Schools  in  Munich." 

School  Review,  19. 

"The  Technical  Day  Schools  in  Germany."     School  Review, 

19. 

Sadler,  M.  E. — "Continuation  Schools  in  England  and  Else- 
where."    Longmans. 

Special  bulletins  and  circulars  issued  by  various  boards  of  educa- 
tion. Bibliography  of  Industrial,  Vocational,  and  Trade 
Education.  Bulletin  No.  22  (1913)  of  United  States  Bureau 
of  Education. 


800  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Bibliography  B 

Additional     References    and    Notes     on     Continuation 

Schools 

I.  Bureau  of  Labor,  Twenty-Fifth  Annual  Report,  1910. 

II.  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  No.  1,  1907. 

III.  Report  on  Vocational  Training,  Committee  of  City  Club, 

Chicago,  1912. 

IV.  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  No.  10,  1909, 

Eaton,  J.  S.     Education  for  Efficiency  in  Railroad  Ser- 
vice. 

V.  Snedden,  D.  S. — "Problem  of  Vocational  Training."    $.35, 

Houghton. 

VI.  Dean,    A.    D.— "The    Worker    and    the    State."     $1.20, 

Century. 

VII.  Hall,  G.  S .— "Educational  Problems,"  vol.  I,  chap.  VIII. 
$7.50,  Appleton. 

VIII.  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Educa- 
tion, Bulletin  No.  3,  A  Symposium  on  Industrial  Educa- 
tion. 

IX.  Ibid.,  Bulletin  No.   n,  A  Descriptive  List  of  Trade  and 

Industrial  Schools  in  the  United  States. 

X.  Ibid.,  Bulletin  No.  12,  Legislation  upon  Industrial  Educa- 

tion in  the  United  States. 

XI.  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  191 1. 

XII.  Ayres,  L.  P. — "Laggards  in  Our  Schools."  $1.50,  Chari- 
ties Pub.  Co. 

XIII.  Thorndike,  E.  L. — "The  Elimination  of  Pupils  from 
School."    Washington,  Government  Printing  Office,  1908. 

XIV.  Monroe,  P. — Cyclopedia  of  Education.  $5.00  per  vol., 
Macmillan. 

Page  References  by  Topics  to  Bibliography  B 

(The  repeated  Roman  numbers  refer  to  the  respective  sources  listed 
above  by  title.) 

Definition. — I,  Ch.  1,  p.  15;    XI,  Vol.  1,  pp.  18-19;   H,  p.  7; 
X,  Pt.  II,  Sec.  1,  pp.  18-22. 

Need  of  Continuation  Schools. — I,  Ch.  V,   pp.    185-186;    II, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  801 

pp.  9-33;    III,  Pt.  II,  Ch.  II,  pp.  28-41;    VI,  Ch.  IV,  pp.  110- 
147;  XII,  p.  13;  XIII,  VII,  pp.  540-546. 

Types. — Evening  Schools. — Historical,  II,  pp.  82-97;  XIV 
(Evening  Schools).  Statistics,  II,  pp.  21-25;  I,  P-  2I4,  XI,  VII, 
pp.  873-876.     Description  of,  II,  pp.  82-97;    IX,  pp.  81-111; 

I,  Ch.  VI,  pp.  213-248. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A— Statistics,  I,  pp.  366-373; 
IX,  101-103;  II,  25-28.  Description  of,  I,  Ch.  XII,  pp.  363- 
373;  II,  101-107;  IV,  pp.  78-79- 

Correspondence  Schools. — Historical,  XIV.  (See  Correspon- 
dence Schools.)  Statistics,  VII,  pp.  549-550;  III,  Ch.  X,  pp. 
251-256.  Description  of,  I,  Ch.  XI,  pp.  351-360;  II,  107-112; 
IX,  pp.  124-125;  IV,  pp.  88-104;  HI,  Ch.  X,  pp.  251-256. 

Co-operative  Plan. — Description  of,  I,  Ch.  V,  pp.  183-210; 
IV,  pp.  84-88;  IX,  pp.  in-115;  II,  pp.  113-131.  Discussion, 
VIII;  VI,  Ch.  VII,  pp.  211-246;  V,pp.  38-42;  III, pp.  200-209; 

II,  133-145- 

Legislation  X. — I,  Ch.  XVI,  pp.  499-518. 
Bibliographies.— I,  Ch.  XVII,  pp.  521-539;  VI,  345-3555  H» 
pp.  I45-I49- 

CHAPTER   XXIII 

THE     SOCIALIZING     FUNCTION     OF     THE     HIGH     SCHOOL     LIBRARY 

(The  bibliography  of  high  school  libraries  in  High  School  Education  is 
complete  through  191 1.  No  references  given  there  are  repeated  in  this 
volume.) 

Boynton,  P.  H. — "Suggestions  for  the  English  Literature  Sec- 
tion of  a  High  School  Library."  School  Review,  25:111- 
116,  Feb.,  1912. 

Chubb,  P. — "Duty  of  the  School  to  Educate  for  the  Right  Use 
of  Leisure."  Religious  Education,  vol.  VII,  pp.  699-704, 
Feb.,  1913.  Presents  forcefully  the  responsibility  of  de- 
veloping the  play  side  of  education. 

Coult,  M. — "How  Can  We  Best  Direct  the  Reading  of  High 
School  Pupils."  New  York  Libraries,  3:52-55,  Jan., 
191 2.  The  author  suggests  various  ways  in  which  the 
teacher  could  stimulate  an  interest  in  books  and  guide 
the  high  school  students  in  their  reading. 

Dana,  J.  C. — "Public  Libraries  and  Publicity  in  Municipal 
Affairs."     Library  Journal,  38:198-201.     Gives  outline 


802  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

of  civic  work  carried  on  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  through  the 
co-operation  of  public  schools  and  the  public  library. 

Davis,  J.  B. — "Use  of  the  Library  in  Vocational  Guidance." 
Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1912,  1267-1273.  Outlines  reading  by 
grades  for  vocational  guidance. 

Dracass,  C.  E.  T. — "The  Growth  of  the  High  School  Library 
in  Chicago."  Educational  Bimonthly,  7:153-156,  Dec, 
1912. 

Fargo,  L. — -"Place  of  the  Library  in  High  School  Education." 
Education,  33:473,  April,  1913.  Argues  that  the  librarian 
should  be  recognized  as  a  teacher  and  should  give  in- 
struction in  the  use  of  books. 

Forbes,  G.  M. — "Place  of  the  Library  in  the  High  School." 
New  York  Libraries,  3 :  170-174,  Nov.,  191 2.  Argues  that 
the  school  librarian  is  in  charge  of  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant centres  of  the  school  plant  and  should  understand 
the  philosophy,  methods,  and  ideals  of  modern  education 
so  that  he  may  co-operate  intelligently  with  those  who 
are  endeavoring  to  free  education  from  outworn  tradition 
and  shape  it  to  meet  the  needs  of  to-day.  An  excellent 
article. 

Freeman,  M.  W. — "Joint  Work  of  the  High  School  and  the 
Public  Library  in  Relating  Education  to  Life."  Library 
Journal,  38:179-183,  April,  1913.  Discusses  vocational 
guidance,  giving  a  list  of  books  for  vocational  guidance 
and  for  debaters'  aids. 

Greenman,  E.  D. — "Development  of  Secondary  School  Libra- 
ries." Library  Journal,  38  :  183-189,  April,  1913.  Gives 
history  of  the  growth  of  high  school  libraries  with  statis- 
tics and  full  bibliography. 

"State  Aid  for  Public  School  Libraries."     Library  Journal, 

37:311-316.  Outlines  aids  offered  by  different  State 
Library  Commissions:  arranged  alphabetically  by  States. 

Hall,  M.  E—  "The  Possibilities  of  the  High  School  Library." 
American  Library  Association,  Papers  and  Proceedings, 
191 2,  260-266.  An  inspiring  paper  which  discusses: 
creating  right  attitude  toward  the  library;  use  of  study 
period;  library  as  a  social  centre;  vocational  guidance. 

Hopkins,  F.  M. — "Is  There  Need  for  a  Course  in  the  Choice 
and  Use  of  Books  in  Our  High  Schools?  "     Proc.  N.  E.  A ., 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  803 

1912,  1 285-1 288.  Gives  the  outline  of  an  experiment  in 
the  Central  High  School  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  of  a  course 
in  library  economy  for  juniors  and  seniors. 

Jones,  T.  L. — "What  the  Public  Library  Can  Do  for  the  High 
School."  Public  Libraries,  17:274-276,  July,  1912.  An 
address  before  the  Wisconsin  Library  Association  in  which 
the  author  gives  a  practical  illustration  of  how  the  public 
library  should  assist  the  high  school. 

McAndrew,  W— " The  High  School  Librarian."  Proc.  N.  E.  A., 
1910,  994-998.  Shows  the  place  and  importance  of  high 
school  librarians  in  the  work  of  the  high  school. 

Mendenhall,  I.  M.— "Training  of  High  School  Students  in  the 
Use  of  the  Library."  New  York  Libraries,  3:138-140, 
July,  1912. 

"Training   in    the  Use  of  Books."     Library  Journal,  38: 

189-192,  April,  1913.  Valuable  suggestions  for  normal 
courses  in  library  work  by  the  chairman  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Normal  School  Libraries,  N.  E.  A. 

Ryan,  J.  V. — "Library  Conditions  in  American  Cities."  Educa- 
tional Bimonthly,  7:157-172,  Dec,  1912.  A  paper  read 
before  the  English  section  of  the  Chicago  High  and  Nor- 
mal School  Association.  This  paper  is  a  report  of  a  com- 
mittee appointed  to  investigate  the  conditions  in  high 
school  libraries  throughout  the  country.  It  is  a  valuable 
and  exhaustive  compilation  of  the  work  which  the  high 
schools  in  various  sections  of  the  country  are  doing. 

Shaw,  A.  B. — "History  Reference  Library  for  High  Schools." 
History  Teacher's  Magazine,  3:79-81,  April,  1912. 

Tanner,  G.  W. — "The  Library  Situation  in  Chicago  High 
Schools."     Educational  Bimonthly,  7:9-15,  Oct.,  1912. 

Walter,  F.  K. — "Teaching  Library  Use  in  Normal  and  High 
Schools."  American  Library  Association,  Papers  and  Pro- 
ceedings, 191 2,  255-260.  Need  of  instruction  in  use  of 
books  discussed  under:  Education  a  Continual  Process; 
Complication  of  Modern  Life;  Education  not  Confined  to 
Books;  Modern  Teaching  Demands  Comprehensive  Grasp 
of  Books. 

Wilson,  H.  B. — "Schools  Enabling  Students  to  Discover  Them- 
selves Vocationally,  with  an  Outline  of  a  Course  in  a  Life 
Calling."     Religious  Education,    7:691-699,  Feb.,  1913. 


804  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

An  account  of  an  experiment  in  vocational  guidance  and 
reading  by  the  superintendent  of  city  schools  in  Decatur, 
111. 

Wilson,  L.  R. — "A  Constructive  Library  Platform  for  Southern 
Schools."  Library  Journal,  37:179-185,  April,  1913. 
Argues  that  progressive  work  will  require  school  library 
inspectors,  instruction  of  pupils  in  the  use  of  books,  nor- 
mal school  instruction  in  library  economy,  and  other  mod- 
ern methods. 

Wolfe,  L.  E. — "The  Many-Book  versus  the  Few-Book  Course 
of  Study."  Educational  Review,  45:146,  Feb.,  1913. 
Enlarges  on  the  statement:  "If  the  teacher  is  to  be  pre- 
pared for  social  efficiency  he  must  be  brought  into  vital 
contact,  through  books  and  pictures,  with  the  lines  of  race 
achievement." 

Plans  and  Miscellaneous. — "  Co-operation  between  the  Public 
Schools  and  the  Public  Libraries  of  Greater  New  York." 
Library  Journal,  37  :  383,  July,  191 2.  A  brief  statement 
of  the  plan  of  co-operation  of  New  York  Board  of  Educa- 
tion and  the  City  Library  System,  with  recommendations. 
New  York  Libraries,  3,  Nov.,  191 2.  Editorials:  "Books 
to  Enrich  Life,"  p.  163;  "Books  to  Aid  in  the  World's 
Work,"  p.  163. 

Reports  of  Special  Committees. — Report  of  the  Committee  on 
High  School  Libraries.  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1912  1273-1281., 
Reviews  the  situation  of  and  makes  suggestions  for  high 
school  libraries  under  the  topics:  The  Librarian;  Building 
up  the  Library;  Library  Rooms  and  their  Use;  Instruc- 
tion in  the  Use  of  Libraries;  Co-operation  with  Public 
Libraries. 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  Normal  School  Libraries.  Proc. 
N.  E.  A.,  1912,  1258-1262.  A  syllabus  of  library  in- 
struction for  normal  schools. 

Report  of  Committee  on  High  School  Libraries,  New  York 
Library  Association. — A  Survey  of  Recent  Library  Prog- 
ress in  High  Schools.  New  York  Libraries,  3:182-184, 
Nov.,  191 2.  A  strong  plea  for  the  recognition  of  the  ed- 
ucational power  of  the  school  library  and  for  trained 
directors  and  supervisors  in  charge  who  shall  also  or- 
ganize the  teaching  of  library  economy. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  805 

Religious  Education  for  Feb.,  1913,  is  devoted  to  the  subject  of 
Social  Life  in  High  Schools  and  contains  many  valuable 
articles  on  this  subject  in  general. 

CHAPTER   XXIV 

VOCATIONAL    GUIDANCE   AND   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL 

Bibliographies  of  the  Public  Libraries  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Grand 
Rapids,  Mich.,  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education. 

Bloomfield,  M.— "The  School  and  the  Start  in  Life."  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  No.  4,  1914. 

"The  Vocational  Guidance  of  Youth."     $.60,  Houghton. 

Boston  School  Superintendent's  Report,  1913. 

Bray,  R.  A. — "The  Town  Child."     T.  Fisher  Unwin,  London. 

Buller,  E.  B. — "Saleswomen  in  Mercantile  Stores."  Charities 
Publication  Committee. 

Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy,  Department  of  So- 
cial Investigation.  "Finding  Employment  for  Children 
Who  Leave  the  Grade  Schools  to  Go  to  Work."  $.25, 
Russell  Sage  Foundation. 

Cooley,  E.  G. — "Vocational  Education  in  Europe."  The  Com- 
mercial Club  of  Chicago. 

Davenport,  E. — "Education  for  Efficiency."     $1.00,  Heath. 

Davis,  B.  D. — "Inquiry  into  Vocational  Aims  of  High  School 
Pupils."     Somerville  (Mass.)  School  Report,  1913. 

Dean,  A.  D.— "The  Worker  and  the  State."     $1.20,  Century. 

Eliot,  C.  W. — "Education  for  Efficiency."     $.35,  Houghton. 

Gillette,  J.  M. — "Vocational  Education."  $1.00,  American 
Book  Co. 

Gordon,  Mrs.  O. — "Handbook  of  Employments."  The  Rose- 
mount  Press,  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  1908. 

Greenwood,  A. — "Juvenile  Labor  Exchanges  and  After-Care." 
P.  S.  King  &  Son,  London. 

Hanus,  P.  H. — "Beginnings  in  Industrial  Education."  $1.00, 
Houghton. 

Keeling,  F. — "The  Labor  Exchange  in  Relation  to  Boy  and 
Girl  Labor."     P.  S.  King  &  Son,  London. 

Keppell,  F.  P. — "The  Occupations  of  College  Graduates."  Ed- 
ucational Review,  Dec,  1910. 


806  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

King,  I. — "Social  Aspects  of  Education."  $1.50,  Macmillan, 
1912. 

Laselle,  M.  A.,  and  Wiley,  K.,  with  an  introduction  by  Meyer 
Bloomfield.     "Vocations  for  Girls."     $.85,  Houghton. 

"Mein  Kunftiger  Beruf."  A  series  of  booklets  published  in 
Leipzig  by  C.  Bange. 

National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education. 
Reports.     105  East  22d  Street,  New  York. 

Parsons,  F. — "Choosing  a  Vocation."     $1.00,  Houghton. 

Sadler,  M.  E. — "Continuation  Schools  in  England  and  Else- 
where." Especially  chap.  XV,  on  Apprenticeship  and 
Skilled  Employment  Committees.  University  Press, 
Manchester,  Eng. 

Snedden,  D. — "The  Problem  of  Vocational  Education."  $.35, 
Houghton. 

Students'  Aid  Committee  of  the  High  School  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion of  New  York  City.  Publications.  Benjamin  C. 
Gruenberg,  Secretary,  Commercial  High  School,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y. 

Talbert,  E.  L. — "A  Study  of  Chicago's  Stockyards  Community." 
No.  I,  Opportunities  in  School  and  Industry  for  Children 
of  the  Stockyards  District.  University  of  Chicago 
Press. 

Teachers  College  Record,  "Educational  Survey  and  Vocational 
Guidance,"  Jan.,  1913;  "The  Making  of  a  Girls'  Trade 
School."     Sept.,  1909.     Columbia  University  Press. 

Thorndike,  E.  L—  "Individuality."     $.35,  Houghton. 

Address,  Teachers  College  Alumni,  Bulletin,  March,  1913. 

"Trades  for  London  Boys";  "Trades  for  London  Girls."  Long- 
mans. 

Twenty-Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Labor,  1910. 

Vocation  Bureau. — Proceedings  of  Vocational  Guidance  Con- 
ventions. Vocations  for  Boys  and  Young  Men.  Voca- 
tions for  Boston  Girls  (first  issued  by  the  Girls'  Trade  Ed- 
ucation League).     6  Beacon  Street,  Boston. 

Vocational  Guidance,  National  Association  of,  Proceedings  of. 
J.  B.  Davis,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Vocational  Guidance  Survey  of  Minneapolis.  Unity  House, 
Minneapolis,  191 2. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  807 

"Was  Werde  Ich?" — A  series  of  booklets  published  in  Leipzig 
by  Albert  Otto  Paul. 

Weeks,  R.  M.— "The  People's  School."     $.60,  Houghton. 

Winslow,  C.  H. — "Vocational  Guidance,  in  Industrial  Educa- 
tion." Twenty-Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Labor,  1910.  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor,  Washington. 

Women's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union.  "  Vocations  for  the 
Trained  Woman  Other  Than  Teaching."  264  Boylston 
Street,  Boston,  1010. 

Women's  Municipal  League. — "A  Handbook  of  Opportunities 
for  Vocational  Training  in  Boston."  fi.25,  Women's 
Municipal  League,  6  Marlboro  Street,  Boston,  1913. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

AVOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE 

Bagley,  W.  C— "Educational  Values."  Pp.  216-241  treat  of 
the  recreative  and  the  interpretative  values  of  studies. 
$1.10,  Macmillan. 

Butler,  N.  M. — "Training  for  Vocation  and  for  Avocation." 
Educational  Review,  36:471. 

Chubb,  P. — "Education  for  Play."     Religious  Education,  7  :  699. 

Davis,  M.  M.—"  The  Exploitation  of  Pleasure."  Pp.61.  $.10, 
Russell  Sage  Foundation. 

Garber,  J.  P. — "  Current  Educational  Activities."     Pp.  23-83. 
$1.25,  Lippincott,  1912. 

Griggs,  J.  H.— "The  Use  of  the  Margin."     Huebsch,  1907. 

Groos,  K. — "The  Play  of  Man."     $1.50,  Appleton. 

Gulick,  L.  H.— "The  Efficient  Life."     $1.20,  Doubleday. 

Hamerton,  G.— "The  Intellectual  Life."     $1.00,  Little,  Brown. 

Lubbock,  Sir  J.— "The  Pleasures  of  Life."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

Perry,  C.  A. — "Recreation  the  Basis  of  Association  between 
Parents  and  Teachers."  Pp.  13.  $.05,  Russell  Sage 
Foundation. 

Recreative  Bibliography. — Contains  thirty-seven  pages  of  classi- 
fied bibliography  on  the  various  types  of  recreative  activi- 
ties.    $.10,  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 


808  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ruediger,  W.  C. — "Principles  of  Education."  Pp.  133-155  and 
236-241  discuss  respectively  the  subjective  values  of 
studies  and  avocational  training.     $1.25,  Houghton. 

Schaeffer,  N.  C. — "Education  for  Avocation."  Proc.  N.  E.  A., 
1908. 

Sharp,  F.  C. — "  Moral  Instruction  for  the  High  School."  Pp. 
41-51.     University  of  Wisconsin,  1913. 

Spencer,  H. — "Education."     Pp.  70-84.     Appleton. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

CO-OPERATION   IN   THE   TEACHING    OF   ENGLISH 

Avery,  E.  H. — "The  Training  of  the  English  Teacher — One 
Experience."     English  Journal,  2:322. 

Breitenbach,  H.  P. — "  Literature  and  Composition."  The  Na- 
tion, 86:464. 

Browne,  G.  H. — "Successful  Combination  against  the  Inert." 
New  England  Association  of  Teachers  of  English.  Leaflet 
no.  3,  Oct.,  1901.  Secretary,  F.  W.  C.  Hersey,  Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

Carpenter,  G.  R. — "English  in  Secondary  Education"  in  "The 
Teaching  of  English,"  by  Carpenter,  Baker,  and  Scott, 
pp.  229-234.     $1.50,  Longmans. 

Charters,  W.  W  —  "A  Spelling  'Hospital'  in  the  High  School." 
School  Review,  18:192. 

Chubb,  P. — "The  Teaching  of  English  in  the  Elementary  and 
the  Secondary  School."  $1.00,  Macmillan.  See  espe- 
cially "Limitations  of  the  School  in  Dealing  with  Illiter- 
acy," pp.  8-16;  "Composition  and  Other  Studies,"  pp. 
176-184;  and  "Requiring  Pupils  to  Live  up  to  What  They 
Know,"  pp.  326-329. 

Colby,  J.  R. — "English  in  the  School."      Educational  Bimonthly, 

3  :  1. 

Earle,  S.  C. — "The  Organization  of  Instruction  in  English  Com- 
position."    English  Journal,  2:477. 

"English  and  Other  Teaching." — Editorial,  The  Nation,  86:253. 

Fulton,  M.  G. — "A  Deference  of  the  Special  Teacher  of  Compo- 
sition."    The  Nation,  86:463. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  809 

Gallagher,  0.  C. — "  Co-operation  in  English."  New  England 
Association  of  Teachers  of  English.  Leaflet  no.  67,  Jan., 
1909.     Secretary,  F.  W.  C.  Hersey,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Gardiner,  J.  H. — "English  in  Relation  to  Other  Studies."  The 
Nation,  86:  509. 

"Training  in  Illiteracy."     School  Review,  17:623. 

Gray,  R.  P. — "English  and  the  Foreign  Languages."  Educa- 
tional Review,  41:306. 

Groce,  B. — "Some  Successful  Experiments  in  Co-operation." 
Report  of  a  committee  of  the  New  England  Association  of 
Teachers  of  English.  Leaflet  no.  78,  Feb.,  1910.  Sec- 
retary, F.  W.  C.  Hersey,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Herr,  C.  B. — "Co-operation  in  the  Teaching  of  English  Compo- 
sition."    English  Journal,  2 :  183. 

Hooper,  C.  L. — "An  Experiment  in  Co-operation."  English 
Journal,  1 :  173. 

Hopkins,  E.  M. — "Can  Good  Work  in  Teaching  Composition  be 
Done  under  Present  Conditions?"     English  Journal,  1 : 1. 

"  Cost  and  Labor  of  English  Teaching."     The  final  report  of 

a  committee  of  the  Modern  Language  Association  and 
the  National  Council  of  Teachers  of  English.  Lawrence, 
Kan.,  April,  1913. 

Hopkins,  F.  M. — "Methods  of  Instruction  in  the  Use  of  High 
School  Libraries."     Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1905,  p.  858. 

Koch,  T—  "The  High  School  Library."  Chap.  XXVI  of  "High 
School  Education."     $1.50,  Scribner 

McLaughlin,  M. — "English  in  Relation  to  Other  Studies."  The 
Nation,  86 :  509. 

O'Shea,  M.  V. — "Linguistic  Development  and  Education." 
$1.25,  Macmillan.  See  especially  "Efficiency  as  Special, 
not  General,"  pp.  232-236;  "Development  of  Efficiency 
in  Oral  Expression  through  the  General  Activities  of  the 
School,"  pp.  241-246. 

Partridge,  G.  E. — "The  Genetic  Philosophy  of  Education  of 
G.  Stanley  Hall,"  pp.  239-245.     $1.50,  Sturgis  &  Walton. 

Sachs,  J. — "The  American  Secondary  School,"  pp.  1 16-120. 
$1.10,  Macmillan. 

Smith,  J.  F. — "Report  on  English  in  Secondary  Schools  in 
England  and  Scotland."     Educational  Review,  40:266. 


810  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Stevens,  W.  LeC. — "Co-operation  in  English  Teaching."  The 
Nation,  April  2,  1908.     86  :  303. 

"The  Teaching  of  English  in  Secondary  Schools."  Circular  753. 
Board  of  Education,  London,  19 10. 

Thurber,  S. — "An  Address  to  Normal  School  Teachers  of  En- 
glish."    School  Review,  8:129. 

"Five  Axioms  of  Composition  Teaching."     School  Review, 

5:7- 

CHAPTER   XXVII 

The  Hygiene  of  the  High  School 

medical  supervision,  school  sanitation,  the  hygiene  of 
instruction 

In  many  references  all  or  several  of  the  five  divisions  of  edu- 
cational hygiene  are  discussed,  and  the  reader  of  this  chapter  is 
referred  to  the  lists  given  for  the  chapters  on  Physiology  and 
Hygiene  and  Sex  Pedagogy  in  the  high  school  in  High  School 
Education  and  the  one  on  Athletics  and  Gymnastics  in  the 
present  volume.  Some  of  the  more  recent  and  valuable  con- 
tributions follow,  including  a  small  selected  group  of  books  for 
every-day  use  in  schools. 

I.    Books 

Allen,  W.  H—  "Civics  and  Health."    $1.25,  Ginn. 

"Woman's  Part  in  Government."     $1.50,  Dodd,  Mead. 

Ayres,  L.  P. — "Medical  Inspection  Legislation."  Sage  Foun- 
dation, New  York. 

Barry,  W.  F. — "The  Hygiene  of  the  Schoolroom."  $1.50,  Silver, 
Burdett. 

Bergey,  D.  H. — "The  Principles  of  Hygiene."     $3.00,  Saunders. 

Burgerstein,  L. — "Schulhygiene."     B.  G.  Teubner,  Leipzig. 

*  Burks,  F.  W.,  and  J.  D— "Health  and  the  School."    Appleton. 

Burrage  and  Bailey. — "School  Sanitation  and  Decoration." 
$1.50,  Heath. 

Chisholm,  C. — "  The  Medical  Inspection  of  Girls  in  Secondary 
Schools."     Longmans. 

Coleman — "  The  People's  Health."     Macmillan. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  811 

*  Cornell,  W.  S. — "Health  and  Medical  Inspection  of  School 

Children."     $3.00,  F.  A.  Davis  Co. 
Crowley,  R.  H.— "The  Hygiene  of  School  Life."     Muthen  & 

Co.,  London. 
Curtis,  S.  H. — "  Play  and  Recreation."     Ginn  &  Co. 

*  "  Cyclopedia  of  Education,"  in  five  volumes.     Articles  and  bib- 

liographies on  all  phases  of  educational  hygiene.     $5.00 

each,  Macmillan. 
Davenport,  C.  B. — "Heredity  in  Relation  to  Eugenics."     $2.00, 

Holt. 
Denison,  Elsa. — "Helping  School  Children."     $1.40,  Harpers. 

*  Ditman,  N.  E. — "Home  Hygiene  and  the  Prevention  of  Dis- 

ease."    $1.50,  Duffield. 

*  Dresslar,  F.  B. — -"School  Hygiene."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 
Ellwood,    C.    A. — "Sociology   and   Modern    Social    Problems." 

$1.00,  American  Book  Co. 

Emerson,  C.  P. — "Essentials  of  Medicine."     $2.00,  Lippincott. 

Fisher,  I. — "National  Vitality."  $.15,  United  States  Senate 
Document. 

Fitz,  G.  W. — "Principles  of  Physiology  and  Hygiene."  $1.12, 
Holt. 

Foster,  W.  T. — "  The  Social  Emergency."     Houghton. 

Gerhard,  W.  P.— "Sanitation  of  Public  Buildings."  Wiley  & 
Sons,  London. 

Gesell,  A.  L.,  and  B.  C. — "The  Normal  Child  and  Primary  Ed- 
ucation."    $1.50,  Ginn. 

Gillette,  J.  M. — "Constructive  Rural  Sociology."  $2.00,  Stur- 
gis  &  Walton. 

*  Gulick  and  Ayres. — "Medical  Inspection  of  Schools,"  1913. 

The  Survey  Associates  Co. 
Gulick  and  Jewett. — "The  Gulick  Hygiene  Series."     Ginn. 
Hall,  G.  S. — "Adolescence."     $7.50,  Appleton. 

"Educational  Problems."     $7.50,  Appleton. 

Hall,  W.  S. — "  Sexual  Knowledge."    International  Bible  House. 

*  Hoag,  E.  B.— "The  Health  Index  of  Children."     $.80,  Whit- 

aker  &  Ray-Wiggin  Co.,  San  Francisco. 

Hogarth,  A.  H. — "Medical  Inspection  of  Schools."  $6.00, 
Henry  Froude,  Oxford  University  Press,  London. 

Holmes,  A. — "The  Conservation  of  the  Child."  $1.25,  Lippin- 
cott. 


812  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Holt,  E. — "Diseases  of  Childhood  and  Infancy."     Appleton. 
Hough    and   Sedgwick. — "The    Human    Mechanism."     $2.00, 
Ginn. 

*  Hutchinson,  W—  "Handbook  of  Health."     $.65,  Houghton. 
• "Common  Diseases."     $1.50,  Houghton. 

"Preventable  Diseases."     $1.50,  Houghton. 

Hutt,  C.  W. — "Hygiene  for  Health  Visitors,  School  Nurses,  and 
Social  Workers."     P.  S.  King  &  Son,  London. 

Kelynack,  T.  N. — "Medical  Examination  of  Schools  and  Schol- 
ars."    King,  London. 

Lippert  and  Holmes. — "When  to  Send  for  the  Doctor."  Lip- 
pincott. 

McCombs,  R.  S. — "Diseases  of  Children  for  Nurses."  $2.00, 
W.  B.  Saunders  Co. 

Mackenzie,  W.  L  —  "The  Health  of  the  School  Child."  Me- 
thuen  &  Co.,  London. 

Mackenzie  and  Matthew. — "The  Medical  Inspection  of  School 
Children."     Hodge  &  Co.,  Edinburgh,  Scotland. 

Mangold,  G.  B—  "Child  Problems."     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

Marshall,  J.  S. — "Mouth  Hygiene."     $5.50,  Lippincott. 

Moll,  A.— "The  Sexual  Life  of  the  Child."     $1.75,  Macmillan. 

Newmayer,  S.  W. — "  Medical  and  Sanitary  Inspection  of 
Schools."     Lea  &  Febiger. 

Nutting,  Read,  and  Stewart.— "The  Nurse  in  Education." 
$.75,  University  of  Chicago  Press. 

Perry,  C.  A.— "Wider  Use  of  the  School  Plant."  $1.25,  Chari- 
ties Publication  Committee. 

*  Rapeer,  L.  W. — "School  Health  Administration."     Teachers 

College,  Columbia  University. 
Ritchie,  J.  W. — "Primer  of  Hygiene."     (New  World  Science 

Series.)     $.40,  The  World  Book  Co. 
School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy.     Chicago.     "The  Child  in 

the  City." 
Schubert,  P. — "Das  Schulartzwesen  in  Deutschland."     Leopold 

Voss,  Hamburg,  Germany. 
Shaw,  E.  R. — "School  Hygiene."     $1.00,  Macmillan. 
Sill,  E.  M—  "The  Child— Its  Care,  Diet,  and  Common  Ills." 

$.40,  Holt. 
Steven,  E.  M. — "Medical  Supervision  in  Schools."     Bailliere, 

Tindall  &  Cox,  London. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  813 

*  Terman,  L.  M—  "The  Teacher's  Health."     $.60,  Houghton. 

"  The  Hygiene  of  the  School  Child."    Houghton. 

Terman  and  Hoag. — "  Health  Work  in  the  Schools."  Houghton. 
Tolmon,  W.  H. — "  Hygiene  for  the  Worker."  American  Book  Co. 
Wallace,  A.   R. — "Social  Environment  and  Moral  Progress." 

Cassell  &  Co. 
Ward,  E.  J.— "The  Social  Centre."     Appleton. 
Weeks,   A.   D. — "The    Education    of  Tomorrow."     Sturgis  & 

Walton  Co. 
Wile,  I.  S. — "Sex  Education."     Duffield. 
Willson,  R.  N.— "The  Education  of  the  Young  in  Sex  Hygiene." 

Published  by  the  author,  1708  Locust  Street,  Philadelphia. 
Wood,  T.  D. — "Health  and  Education."     University  of  Chicago 

Press. 
Woodworth,  R.  S  —  "The  Care  of  the  Body."    $1.50,  Macmillan. 

II.    Small  Selected  List  for  the  Beginning  of  a  Profes- 
sional Library 

Burks. — "Health  and  the  School."     Appleton. 

Cornell. — "Health  and  Medical  Inspection  of  School  Children." 

F.  A.  Davis  Co. 
"  Cyclopedia  of  Education."     5  vols.,  $5.00  each,  Macmillan. 
Ditman. — "Home  Hygiene  and   the   Prevention   of  Disease." 

Duffield. 
Dresslar. — "School  Hygiene."     Macmillan. 
Gulick  and  Ayres.     "Medical  Inspection  of  Schools."     (1913 

ed.)     Survey  Associates. 
Hoag.— "The  Health  Index  of  Children."     $.80,  Whitaker  & 

Ray-Wiggin. 
Hutchinson. — "Handbook  of  Health."     $.65,  Houghton. 
Rapeer. — "School  Health  Administration."     Teachers  College, 

Columbia  University. 
Terman. — "The  Teacher's  Health."     $.60,  Houghton. 

"  The  Hygiene  of  the  School  Child."     Houghton. 

Terman  and  Hoag. — "  School  Health  Work."     Houghton. 

III.     Articles 

A  very  rapidly  increasing  number  of  articles  on  various  phases 
of  school  health  in  both  educational  and  other  magazines 
have  appeared  since  1906.     Many  of  these  will  be  found 


814  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

in  the  bibliographies  below.  The  various  indexes  may  be 
used  for  finding  others.  Practically  all  that  has  been 
said  in  articles  is  incorporated  in  the  recent  books  men- 
tioned. 

IV.     Reports — American 

Bulletins  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 

No.  528.  Dresslar  and  others. — "Report  of  the  Fifteenth  In- 
ternational Congress  on  Hygiene  and  Demography." 

No.  496.  Dresslar,  Wood,  and  North. — "  Current  Educational 
Topics." 

No.  475.     Nutting,  M.  A. — "Educational  Status  of  Nursing." 

191 2  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner,  vol.  I.  Dresslar, 
"Typical  Health-Teaching  Agencies." 

Child  Hygiene  Division  of  the  Sage  Foundation.  Ayres, 
"What  American  Cities  Are  Doing  for  the  Health  of 
School  Children  and  Others." 

Annual  Reports  of  Medical  Inspection  in  Cleveland,  O. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Health  Officer  of  Providence,  R.  I. 

Annual  Reports  of  Medical  Inspection  in  Newark,  N.  J. 

Annual  Reports  of  Medical  Inspection  in  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

Various  Reports  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion. 

"  U.  S.  Mortality  Statistics." 

Various  Reports  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  National  Education 
Association. 

Reports  in  the  various  magazines  for  nurses  and  physicians. 

Various  city  school  and  board  of  health  reports. 

Bulletins  of  the  Life  Extension  Institute,  N.  Y.  City. 

Volumes  of  Proceedings  of  the  National  and  the  International 
Congresses  on  School  Hygiene.  Secretary,  Doctor  Thos. 
Storey,  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

V.     Reports — Foreign 

Annual  Reports  of  Medical  Inspection  in  Dunfermline,  Scotland. 
Annual  Reports  of  Medical  Inspection  in  Scotland,  by  W.  L. 

Mackenzie,  and  published  by  H.  M.  Stationery  Office, 

23  Forth  Street,  Edinburgh. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  815 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Chief  Medical  Officer  of  the  English 
Board  of  Education,  covering  England,  Ireland,  and 
Wales.     Whitehall,  London. 

Wyman  &  Sons,  Fetter  Lane,  E.  C,  London.  The  Scottish  re- 
ports may  also  be  purchased  at  this  office  for  a  small  sum. 

From  these  reports  the  cities  that  have  exceptionally  good  medi- 
cal inspection  work  and  reports  may  be  learned. 

London  County  Council.  Special  reports  on  Medical  Inspection, 
School  Feeding,  and  the  like. 

The  work  of  medical  inspection  in  other  countries  may  be  learned 
in  the  various  volumes  of  Proceedings  of  the  Interna- 
tional School  Hygiene  Congress.  Secretary,  Doctor  Thos. 
Storey,  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

VI.    Bibliographies 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  and  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress at  Washington  will  furnish  bibliographies  on  this 
subject  on  request. 

Annotated  Bibliography  of  Medical  Inspection  and  Health  Su- 
pervision of  School  Children  in  the  United  States  for  the 
Years  1909-12.     United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 

Teachers  College,  Columbia  University.  A  Bibliography  on 
Educational  Hygiene.  By  Doctor  Thos.  D.  Wood  and 
Mary  Reesor,  New  York  City. 

Bibliography  of  Child  Study  for  the  Years  1908-09.  By  Louis 
N.  Wilson.     United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 

See  also  the  bibliographies  at  the  end  of  various  articles  on  school 
hygiene  in  Monroe's  "  Cyclopedia  of  Education."  Mac- 
millan. 

CHAPTER   XXVIII 

THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  AS  THE  ART  CENTRE  OF  THE  COMMUNITY 

Books. 

Beatty,  J.  W.— "Illustrated  Catalogues  of  Annual  Exhibits, 
1896-1913."     Carnegie  Institute,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Caffin,  C.  H.— "  American  Masters  of  Painting."  $1.25,  Double- 
day,  Page. 

"Art  for  Life's  Sake."     Prang. 

"How  to  Study  Pictures."     $2.00,  Century. 


816  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Emery,  M.  S. — "How  to  Enjoy  Pictures."     $1.50,  Prang. 

Garesche,  M.  R. — "Art  of  the  Ages."     $1.25,  Prang. 

Haney,  J. — "Art  Education  in  the  Public  Schools  of  the 
United  States."     American  Art  Annual. 

Harrison,  B. — "Landscape  Painting."     $1.50,  Scribner. 

Hartmann,  S. — "A  History  of  American  Art."  $4.00,  L.  C. 
Page. 

"Japanese  Art."     $1.50,  L.  C.  Page. 

Isham,  S. — "American  Painting."     $5.00,  Macmillan. 

Morris,  W. — "Hopes  and  Fears  for  Art."     $1.50,  Longmans. 

Munsell,  A.  H—  "A  Color  Notation."     $1.00,  George  H.  Ellis. 

Munsterberg,  H. — "The  Principles  of  Art  Education."  $1.00, 
Prang. 

Noyes,  C— "The  Enjoyment  of  Art."     $1.00,  Houghton. 

Reinach,  S—  "Apollo."     $1.50,  Scribner. 

Stevenson,  R.  A.  M— " Velasquez."     G.  Bell  &  Sons,  Ltd. 

Taft,  L.— "The  History  of  American  Sculpture."  $6.00,  Mac- 
millan. 

Van  Dyke,  J.  C. — "History  of  Painting."     $1.25,  Longmans. 

"Art  Education  for  High  Schools."     $1.25,  Prang. 

Magazines. 
The  International  Studio.     $5.00,  John  Lane  Co.,  New  York. 
The   Craftsman.     $3.00,    Craftsman    Pub.    Co.,   41    West   34th 

Street,  New  York. 
The  School  Arts  Magazine.     $1.50,  School  Arts  Pub.  Co.,  Boston, 

Mass. 

Magazine  Articles. 

"An  Art  Association  for  the  People."  E.  B.  Johnston,  The  Out- 
look, April  27,  1907. 

"A  Notable  High  School."  H.  T.  Bailey,  The  School  Arts  Book, 
April,  191 2. 

"Art  in  Indiana."     E.  B.  Johnston,  The  Outlook,  June  24,  191 1. 

"Arts  and  Crafts  in  Civic  Improvement."  Mrs.  M.  F.  John- 
ston, The  Chautauquan,  June,  1906. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  817 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

THE    MORAL    AGENCIES    AFFECTING    THE    HIGH    SCHOOL    STUDENT 

Addams,  J.— "The  Spirit  of  Youth  and  the  City  Streets." 
Widely  known  as  a  challenge  to  the  community  responsi- 
ble for  things  that  are  out  of  joint.  Full  of  suggestions 
to  any  one  who  is  in  earnest.     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

Adler,  F. — "The  Moral  Instruction  of  Children."  Deals  avow- 
edly with  the  problem  for  the  primary  and  grammar 
school  grades.  Important  suggestions  in  th»  preface. 
$1.50,  Appleton. 

Athearn,  W.  S.— "The  Responsibility  of  the  Public  School  to  the 
Family."  Religious  Education,  5:124-130.  Shows  the 
changed  social  conditions  and  suggests  the  school's  real 
work  with  reference  to  the  family. 

Bagley,  W.  C. — "The  School's  Responsibility  for  Directing  Con- 
trols of  Conduct."  Elementary  School  Teacher,  8:349- 
360.  Defines  the  aim  of  educational  effort  and  relates 
the  school's  work  in  moral  training  to  the  "emotionalized 
prejudices." 

"The  Present  Status  of  Moral  Education  in  Institutions  for 

the  Training  of  Teachers."  Religious  Education,  5:612- 
640. 

Barnes,  C.  W. — "Moral  Training  through  the  Agency  of  the 
Public  Schools."  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1909.  Emphasizes  im- 
portance of  the  teacher's  personal  influence. 

Brown,  E.  E. — "Government  by  Influence."  One  of  a  collec- 
tion of  addresses  with  that  title.  Aims  to  show  that  the 
power  of  government  by  influence  should  increase  and 
that  this  greatly  concerns  modern  education.  $1.35, 
Longmans. 

Brownlee,  J.—"  Character  Building  in  School."  Presents 
clearly  the  true  basis  of  the  teacher's  equipment  for  his 
work.  Abounds  in  real  problems  and  practical  sugges- 
tions.    $1.00,  Houghton. 

Brumbaugh,  M.  G.— "The  Problem  Stated."  In  report  of 
Committee  on  Moral  Education,  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  191 1. 
Commented  on  in  this  book,  chap.  XXIII. 


818  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Cabot,  E.  L. — "Moral  Training  in  the  Public  Schools."  A  sym- 
posium conducted  by  Frederic  Allen  Tupper.  Journal  of 
Education,  71 :  11 7-1 23.     Has  many  practical  suggestions. 

Carr,  J.  W. — "A  Course  by  Grades."  In  report  of  Committee 
en  Moral  Education.  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1911.  Carefully 
prepared  outline  for  course  of  instruction.  The  qualities 
demanded  of  the  teacher  are  well  chosen. 

"Scope  of  Moral  Education  in  the  Public  Schools."     New 

Jersey  State  Teachers'  Association  Proceedings,  1909. 
Covers  somewhat  same  ground  as  preceding. 

"Means  Employed  in  Teaching  Morality  in  Public  Schools." 

In  "The  Bible  in  Practical  Life."  $1.00,  Relig.  Educ. 
Assn. 

Carroll,  C.  F. — "Moral  Instruction  and  Training  in  the  Public 
Schools  of  New  York."  Religious  Education,  5:640-644. 
Calls  attention  to  spiritual  influence  of  teachers  even  in 
"Godless"  schools. 

Chubb,  P. — "Direct  Moral  Education."  Religious  Education, 
6:106-113.  Opposes  vigorously  the  arguments  of  Pal- 
mers and  Dewey  against  direct  moral  instruction. 

"The  Function  of  the  Festival  in  School  Life."     Pamphlet, 

Ethical  Culture  Co.,  New  York. 

"Festivals  and  Plays  in  Schools  and  Elsewhere."     Shows 

how  festivals  may  be  used  for  moral  training  and  gives 
descriptions  in  detail  for  carrying  out  the  suggestions. 
$2.00,  Harper. 

Coe,  G.  A. — "Education  in  Religion  and  Morals."  Nearly  half 
of  the  volume  devoted  to  "selected  and  classified  bib- 
liography."    $1.35,  Revell. 

Coleman,  G.  W. — "Education  through  Social  Service."  In 
"Education  and  National  Character,"  a  collection  of 
monographs,  several  of  which  are  indexed  in  this  bib- 
liography. Presents  numerous  examples  of  the  value  of 
social  service.     $1.00,  Relig.  Educ.  Assn. 

Cook,  J.  W. — "Moral  Training  in  Secondary  Schools."  Illinois 
State  Teachers'  Association  Proceedings,  1903.  Empha- 
sizes importance  of  the  person  as  a  concrete  embodiment 
of  the  moral  code. 

Cope,  H.  F. — "A  Selected  List  of  Books  on  Moral  Training  and 
Instruction  in  the  Public  Schools."     Religious  Education, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  819 

5:718-732.  Carefully  prepared  and  classified;  used 
freely  in  preparing  this  bibliography. 

"Character  Training  of  High  School  Boys."     Association 

Boys,  vol.  VII,  no.  4.  Shows  how  the  high  school  should 
meet  the  need  of  students  in  the  four  directions:  physical 
exercise,  self-knowledge,  social  training,  study  of  ethical 
problems. 

Dewey,  J.— "Moral  Principles  in  Education."  Crowded  with 
stimulating  suggestions  and  helpful  warnings  and  argu- 
ments to  show  fallacy  of  many  commonly  accepted  con- 
clusions. Every  teacher  should  own  this  book.  $.35, 
Houghton. 

"The  Chaos  in  Moral  Training."     Popular  Science  Monthly, 

Aug.,  1894.  Strongly  insists  upon  appeal  to  child's  own 
consciousness  of  a  reason  for  right  doing. 

Drayton,  H.  S. — "Moral  Education  in  the  Schools."  Field  & 
Young,  Jersey  City. 

Dutton,  S.  T. — "Social  Phases  of  Education  in  School  and 
Home."  One  in  a  collection  of  addresses  published  under 
that  title.  Shows  that  vocational  and  cultural  aims  are 
one  and  the  same.  Insists  on  importance  of  social  con- 
tact and  social  experience.     $1.25,  Macmillan. 

Eliot,  C.  W. — "Democracy  and  Manners."  Century,  61:173- 
178.  Interesting  and  helpful;  brings  out  connection  be- 
tween manners  and  morals,  particularly  in  educational 
work. 

"Moral  Training  in  the  Public  Schools."     A  symposium 

conducted  by  F.  A.  Tupper.  Journal  of  Education,  71  : 
1 1 7-1 23.  Develops  clearly  the  fundamental  moral  truths 
that  must  be  taught  children  in  a  democracy. 

Ellis,  F.  H. — "Character  Forming  in  Schools."  A  tabulated 
outline,  from  actual  experience,  of  exercises  for  work  of 
this  sort,  in  two  parts — 1st,  for  an  infants'  school;  2d,  for 
a  girls'  school.     $.90,  Longmans. 

Fairchild,  M. — "The  Moral  Education  Board."  Atlantic  Edu- 
cational Journal,  6: 10-11,  28.  Illustrated.  Presents  and 
illustrates  the  interesting  work  of  this  body  (now  called 
"National  Institution  for  Moral  Instruction  "),  with  pho- 
tographs as  carried  out  by  Mr.  Fairchild  himself. 

Flack,  A.  G—  "Moral  Education."     $.50,  Cochrane  Pub.  Co. 


820  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Gilbert,  C.  B. — "The  School  and  Its  Life."  Important  chapters 
on  the  morale  of  the  school  and  social  functions  of  the 
school.     $1.25,  Silver,  Burdette. 

Gillette,  J.  M. — "Vocational  Education."  Discussion  of  four 
well-recognized  ends  of  education,  viz.,  perfection,  disci- 
pline, culture,  vocational,  as  compared  with  social  end. 
Important  chapter  on  "Pathological  Demands  on  Edu- 
cation."    $1.00,  American  Book  Co. 

Gladden,  W— "Effective  Educational  Unity."  In  "Educa- 
tional and  National  Character,"  a  collection  of  mono- 
graphs. Quoted  in  chap.  XXIII  of  this  volume.  $1.00, 
Relig.  Educ.  Assn. 

Goodwin,  E.  J. — "Exclusion  of  Religious  Instruction  from  the 
Public  Schools."  Educational  Review,  35:1 29-138.  "Sci- 
ence must  meet  the  situation." 

Greenwood,  J.  M. — "Systematic  Formal  Moral  Training  in  the 
Schools."  Journal  of  Education,  7 1:7 40-741.  Insists  on 
a  combination  of  both  methods. 

Hall,  G.  S—  "What  Changes  Should  Be  Made  in  Public  High 
Schools  to  Make  Them  More  Efficient  in  Moral  Training?  " 
Religious  Education  Association  Proceedings,  1905.  A 
systematic  plan  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  schools 
in  this  regard. 

Hall,  W.  S. — "From  Youth  into  Manhood."  A  sane,  helpful 
guide  for  high  school  boys  in  matters  of  sex  hygiene  along 
the  lines  of  Doctor  Hall's  effective  addresses  made  before 
so  many  schools.     S50,  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Harris,  W.  T. — "The  Separation  of  the  Church  from  the  School 
Supported  by  Public  Taxes."  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1903. 
Contends  for  the  necessity  of  this  action.  Challenges 
earnest  attention  and  discussion  such  as  its  delivery  called 
forth. 

Huntington,  F.  D. — "Unconscious  Tuition."  Full  of  inspira- 
tion to  every  real  teacher.     $.30,  Bardeen. 

Hyde,  W.  D. — "  Practical  Ethics."  A  text-book  for  high  schools 
in  moral  instruction.     $1.00,  Holt. 

Jenks,  J.  W. — "Life  Questions  of  High  School  Boys."  A  con- 
venient manual  for  use  in  clubs  for  boys;  has  been  used 
successfully  in  carrying  out  David  R.  Porter's  suggestion 
about  voluntary  moral  movements.     $.40,  Y.  M.  C.  A. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  821 

Johnson,  F.  W. — "Moral  Education  through  School  Activities." 
Religious  Education,  6:493-502.  An  interesting  study  of 
conditions  in  English  public  schools  and  of  methods 
used  in  experiments  conducted  especially  at  the  University 
High  School  of  the  University  of  Chicago. 

King,  H.  C. — In  "Education  and  National  Character."  A  col- 
lection of  monographs.     $1.00,  Relig.  Educ.  Assn. 

Kirkland,  J.  H. — "Progress  in  Religious  and  Moral  Education." 
Gratis,  Relig.  Educ.  Assn. 

Leonard,  M.  H. — "  Moral  Training  in  Public  Schools."  Educa- 
tion, 3:218-223.  Discussion  of  the  effect  of  court  de- 
cisions apparently  excluding  religious  worship  from  the 
public  schools. 

Mark,  H.  T. — "Individuality  and  the  Moral  Aim  in  Education." 
The  Gilchrist  Report  presented  to  the  Victoria  Univer- 
sity. Comprehensive  and  interesting.  Part  I  contains 
a  general  and  thorough  discussion  of  individuality  in 
American  education.  Part  II  is  a  discussion  of  the 
moral  aims  in  American  education  in  its  relation  to  the 
principle  of  individuality.     $1.50,  Longmans. 

Martin,  G.  H. — "School  Activities  for  Moral  Development." 
Religious  Education,  6:503-570.  A  valuable  article  call- 
ing attention  to  the  responsibility  resting  on  various  agen- 
cies and  the  necessity  for  intelligent  co-operation. 

Mead,  G.  H. — "Moral  Training  in  the  Schools."  Elementary 
School  Teacher,  9:327-328.  Editorial,  commenting  espe- 
cially on  the  Fairchild  and  Brownlee  systems  and  point- 
ing the  only  way  in  which  the  school  can  become  an  ef- 
fective moral  agency. 

Reviews  on  several  educational  publications,  particularly 

Sadler's  "Report  of  an  International  Inquiry  into  Moral 
Training."  Elementary  School  Teacher,  9:328.  This  re- 
view is  clarifying. 

Moral  Education  Board. — "How  It  Was  Done  by  the  Moral 
Education  Board."  Brief  monograph  on  the  work  of  this 
body.     Pamphlet,  Natl.  Inst,  for  Moral  Inst.,  Baltimore. 

Mott,  T.  A.— "The  Means  Afforded  by  the  Public  School  for 
Moral  and  Religious  Education."  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1906. 
Quoted  in  regard  to  manual  training  in  chap.  XXIII  of 
this  volume. 


S22  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Myers,  G.  E. — "Moral  Training  in  the  School.  A  Comparative 
Study."  Pedagogical  Seminary,  13:409-460.  Contains  a 
bibliography.  Appears  as  one  of  "The  California  Prize 
Essays."  Advocates  the  policy  that  teachers  be  especially 
trained  and  then  left  free  to  work  out  individual  methods. 

Page,  W.  H.— "  Teaching  Morals  by  Photographs."  World's 
Work,  19:12715.  A  full  and  clear  popular  presentation 
of  the  Fairchild  method. 

Palmer,  G.  H.— "Ethical  and  Moral  Instruction  in  Schools."  A 
masterly  discussion  of  the  issues  involved  in  the  three 
views  regarding  moral  instruction.     $.35,  Houghton. 

■ "The  Ideal  Teacher."  One  of  the  gems  of  educational  lit- 
erature.    $.35,  Houghton. 

Partridge,  G.  E. — "Moral  Education."  A  chapter  in  his  "Ge- 
netic Philosophy  of  Education,"  which  is  a  summary  of 
the  numerous  writings  and  teachings  of  President  G. 
Stanley  Hall,  and  a  most  convenient  handbook  for 
teachers.  The  philosophy  in  this  chapter  is  stimulating 
and  is  accompanied  by  many  practical  hints.  $1.50, 
Sturgis  &  Walton. 

Porter,  D.  R. — "Moral  Conditions  in  High  Schools."  Religious 
Education,  4: 197-202.  The  report  of  a  first-hand  detailed 
study  of  conditions.  Referred  to  in  chap.  XXIII  of  this 
volume. 

Reeder,  R.  R. — "Moral  Training  an  Essential  Factor  in  Elemen- 
tary School  Work."  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1908.  Contains 
many  thoughtful  utterances. 

Rees,  W.  E.  E  —  "The  Folly  of  the  Secular  System."  Forl- 
nightly  Review,  89  :  905-913.  Argues  for  the  necessity  of 
religious  instruction. 

Rugh,  C.  E. — "Moral  Training  and  Instruction  in  the  Schools 
of  California."  Religious  Education,  5:644-663.  Avery 
elaborate  report  with  many  interesting  details. 

"Moral  Training  in  the  Public  Schools."    The  winning  paper 

in  the  group  known  and  published  together  as  "The  Cali- 
fornia Prize  Essays."  Referred  to  in  chap.  XXIII  of  this 
volume.     $1.50,  Ginn. 

Sadler,  M.  E. — "Moral  Instruction  and  Training  in  Schools." 
The  result  of  an  international  inquiry  with  contributions 
from  a  large  number  of  writers  in  many  countries.     See 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  823 

review  of  this  book  by  G.  H.  Mead  in  Elementary  School 
Teacher,  referred  to  under  his  name  in  this  bibliography. 
Two  vols.,  $1.50  each,  Longmans. 

Schroeder,  H.  H.— "The  Psychology  of  Conduct;  Applied  to  the 
Problem  of  Moral  Education,  in  the  Public  Schools." 
$1.25,  Row,  Peterson.  Calls  attention  to  need  for  more 
men  teachers  and  a  higher  salary  schedule. 

Search,  P.  W—  "The  Ethical  Basis  of  the  School."  A  chapter 
in  his  "An  Ideal  School,  or  Looking  Forward."  An  in- 
teresting book.     $1.20,  Appleton. 

Shallenberger,  M.  E—  "The  Function  of  the  School  in  Training 
for  Right  Conduct."  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1908.  Worth  read- 
ing.    Quoted  in  chap.  XXIII  of  this  volume. 

Sharp,  F.  C— "A  Study  of  the  Influence  of  Custom  on  Moral 
Judgment."  Deserves  attention  from  thoughtful  teach- 
ers as  a  careful,  first-hand  study  of  actual  problems  in 
moral  judgment  and  how  they  may  be  dealt  with.  $.30, 
Univ.  of  Wis. 

Sharp,  F.  C,  and  Neumann,  H—  "Course  in  Moral  Instruction 
for  the  High  School."  School  Review,  20:226-245.  An 
elaborate  outline  with  references. 

Sisson,  E.  0.— "Can  Virtue  Be  Taught?"  Educational  Review, 
41:261-279.  A  historical  discussion  of  theories  with  a 
hopeful  appreciation  of  the  value  of  child  study. 

Slattery,  M—  "The  Girl  in  Her  Teens."  Sex  hygiene  for  girls. 
$.50,  S.  S.  Times  Co. 

Spiller,  G— "  Bibliography  on  Moral  Instruction."  In  his  "Re- 
port on  Moral  Instruction."     Watts  &  Co.,  London. 

"Moral  Education  in  Eighteen  Countries."  Part  I,  Atti- 
tude of  the  churches  and  the  general  problem  of  moral 
education.  Part  II,  Detailed  report  of  the  procedure  in 
each  country  considered.  Part  III,  Bibliography,  56 
pages.     Watts  &  Co.,  London. 

Stevenson,  T.  E— "  Moral  Training  in  the  Public  Schools."  One 
of  the  papers  in  the  group  included  in  "The  California 
Prize  Essays."  Urges  teaching  of  existing  laws  in  the 
schools  as  a  moral  agency.     $1.50,  Ginn. 

Strayer,  G.  D.— "The  Legal  Aspect  of  Moral  Education."  Re- 
ligious Education,   5:599-611.     A  comprehensive  state- 


824  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

ment  of  legislation  in  different  States  on  the  subject  of 
moral  training  and  education. 

Sutton,  W.  S. — "Moral  Instruction  and  Training  in  the  Public 
Schools  of  Texas."  Religious  Education,  5:678-688. 
Presents  a  great  variety  of  opinions.  Points  out  the  dan- 
ger in  too  great  emphasis  upon  individualism. 

Suzzallo,  H. — Introduction  to  Dewey's  "Moral  Principles  in 
Education"  listed  in  this  bibliography.  Quoted  in  chap. 
XXIII  for  its  important  definition  of  the  fields  of  re- 
sponsibility in  public  education. 

Taylor,  C.  K. — "The  Moral  Education  of  School  Children." 
Printed  for  C.  K.  and  H.  B.  Taylor,  Philadelphia. 

Teitrich,  R.  B. — "The  School  as  an  Instrument  of  Character 
Building."  National  Education  Association  Proceedings, 
1908.     Emphasizes  importance  of  environment. 

Thomas,  J.  M. — "Moral  Instruction  in  High  Schools  and  Col- 
leges." University  of  the  State  of  New  York  Convocation 
Proceedings,  1909.    Issued  as  Educ.  Dept.  Bulletin  no.  460. 

Thompson,  W.  O. — "The  Effect  of  Moral  Education  in  the 
Public  Schools  upon  the  Civic  Life  of  the  Community." 
Proc.N.E.  A.,  1906.  Sets  forth  interesting  reasons  why  the 
teacher's  influence  is  conservative  of  democratic  ideals. 

Tufts,  J.  H. — -"How  Far  Is  Formal  Systematic  Instruction  De- 
sirable in  Moral  Training  in  the  Schools."  Religious  Ed- 
ucation, 3:121-132.  Quoted  freely  in  chap.  XXIII  of 
this  volume. 

Tupper,  F.  A. — "Moral  Training  in  the  Public  Schools."  Jour- 
nal of  Education,  71:117-123.  A  symposium  referred  to 
in  this  bibliography  under  names  of  contributing  authors. 

Votaw,  C.  W—  "Moral  Training  in  the  Public  Schools."  Bib- 
lical World,  34:295-305.     Emphasizes  the  social  theory. 

Williams,  C.  W. — "Moral  Training  through  Patriotism."  One 
of  the  papers  under  the  title,  "Education  and  National 
Character."  Proc.  Relig.  Educ.  Assoc,  1908.  An  in- 
teresting presentation  of  the  plans  adapted  in  this  line 
in  various  nations,  and  a  definite  proposition  for  American 
schools. 

Williams,  H.  G. — "The  Scholar  as  an  Instrument  of  Character 
Building."     One  of  several  addresses  in  Proc.  N.  E.  A.f 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  825 

Wilm,  E.  C. — "The  Culture  of  Religion.  Elements  of  Religious 
Education."  A  discussion  of  the  aims  and  instruments 
of  moral  and  religious  education.  Chap.  Ill  has  espe- 
cially to  do  with  the  public  school.  Stimulating  and 
reasonable.     $.75,  Pilgrim  Press. 

Wilson,  C.  D.— "Making  the  Most  of  Ourselves."  A  text-book 
for  high  schools.  Chapters  of  especial  interest  are  those 
on  meliorism,  personal  magnetism,  the  duty  of  learning 
to  laugh,  obscure  success,  the  art  of  conferring  benefits. 
Two  series,  $1.00  each,  McClurg. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

THE   RELIGIOUS   LIFE   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   STUDENT 

Adler,  F. — "The  Moral  Instruction  of  Children."  $1.50,  Ap- 
pleton. 

Arendt,  F. — "Ein  Beitrag  zur  Reform  des  Religionsunterrichts." 
Halle,  1908.1 

Bagley,  W.  C— "The  Pedagogy  of  Morality  and  Religion  as  Re- 
lated to  Periods  of  Development."  Religious  Education, 
April,  1909. 

Barnes,  C.  W. — Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1908,  pp.  453-457. 

Bell,  G.  C. — "Religious  Teaching  in  Secondary  Schools."  Lon- 
don, 1897. 

Brockman,  F.  S. — "A  Study  of  the  Moral  and  Religious  Life 
of  Two  Hundred  and  Fifty-one  Preparatory  Students  in 
the  United  States."     Pedagogical  Seminary,  Sept.,  191 2. 

Brown,  E.  E. — "The  Culture  of  Righteousness."  Methodist  Re- 
view, Sept.,  1909. 

Bryce,  J. — "Religion  and  Moral  Education."  Religious  Edu- 
cation, 4:30-40. 

Buisson,  F. — "La  Religion,  la  Morale  et  la  Science."  Paris, 
1900. 

Burton  and  Matthews. — "Principles  and  Ideals  for  the  Sunday 
School."     $1.00,  Univ.  of  Chicago  Press. 

'Foreign  books  whose  publishers  are  not  designated  may  be  had 
through  G.  E.  Stechert  &  Co.,  151-155  West  Twenty-fifth  Street, 
New  York. 


826  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Butler,  N.  M. — "The  Meaning  of  Education."  $1.00,  Macmil- 
lan. 

Coe,  G.  A. — "Moral  and  Religious  Education  from  the  Psycho- 
logical Point  of  View."     Religious  Education,  3:165-179. 

"Progress  in  Religious  and  Moral  Education."     Religious 

Education,  April,  1909. 

"Education  in  Religion  and  Morals."     $1.35,  Revell. 

Conway,  J. — "Catholic  Education  in  the  United  States."  Edu- 
cational Review,  Feb.,  1905. 

Doring  and  others. — "  Konfessionelle  oder  weltliche  Schule?" 
Berlin,  1904. 

Faguet,  E. — "L'Anti-Clericalisme."     Paris. 

Faunce,  W.  H.  P. — "Survey  of  Moral  and  Religious  Progress." 
Educational  Review,  April,  1905. 

Franke,  Th.— "Der  Kampf  um  den  Religionsunterricht."  Leip- 
zig, 1909. 

Gansberg,  F. — "Religionsunterricht?"     Leipzig,  1906. 

Griinweller,  A. — "Nicht  Moral-  sondern  Religionsunterricht." 
Berlin,  1899. 

Hall,  C.  C— "Progress  in  Religious  and  Moral  Education." 
Educational  Review,  June,  1904. 

Hall,  G.  S  —  "Adolescence."     $7.50,  Appleton. 

"Educational  Problems."     $7.50,  Appleton. 

Harvey,  W.  L.— "How  May  the  Teaching  of  Religion  Be  Made 
Potent  for  Morality?"  Proc.  Congress  of  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences, St.  Louis,  Houghton. 

Hirsch,  E.  G. — "Religious  Education  and  Moral  Efficiency." 
Religious  Education,  June,  1909. 

Home,  H.  H. — "Psychological  Principles  of  Education."  $1.75, 
Macmillan. 

Jackman,  W.  S. — "Nature  Study  and  Religious  Training."  Ed- 
ucational Review,  June,  1905. 

Jenks,  J.  W. — "Moral  and  Religious  Training  from  the  Social 
Sciences."     Religious  Education,  Dec,  191 1. 

King,  H.  C. — "The  Future  of  Moral  and  Religious  Education.'' 
Religious  Education,  Oct.,  1909. 

Kirkland,  J.  H. — "Progress  in  Religious  and  Moral  Education." 
Religious  Education,  April,  1910. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  827 

McMurry,  F.  M. — "The  Use  of  Biography  in  Religious  Instruc- 
tion." In  "Principles  of  Religious  Education."  Long- 
mans. 

Mott,  T.  A.— "The  Means  Afforded  by  the  Public  Schools  for 
Moral  and  Religious  Training."  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1906, 
pp.  35-42. 

Moulton,  R.  G.— "The  Bible  as  Literature."     $1.50,  Crowell. 

Penzig,  R. — "Zum  Kulturkampf  um  die  Schule."  Berlin, 
1905. 

Potter,  H.  C.  (editor). — "Principles  of  Religious  Education." 
Longmans. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Moral  Training  in  the  Public  Schools. 
In  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1908,  pp.  448-457. 

Rietschel,  G. — "Zur  Reform  des  Religionsunterrichts  in  der 
Volksschule."     Leipzig,  1909. 

Sadler,  M.  E. — "Moral  Instruction  and  Training  in  Schools." 
Report  of  an  International  Inquiry.  Two  volumes. 
$3.00,  Longmans. 

■ -"The  Unrest  in  Secondary  Education  in  Germany."  Lon- 
don. 

Salter,  W.  M.— "The  Bible  in  the  Schools."  American  Ethical 
Union. 

Seeley,  L. — "Religious  Instruction  in  American  Schools."  Ed- 
ucational Review,  Feb.,  1898. 

Show,  A.  B. — "The  Movement  for  Reform  in  the  Teaching  of 
Religion  in  the  Public  Schools  of  Saxony."  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin,  1910,  no.  1. 

Sisson,  E.  0. — "The  Spirit  and  Value  of  Prussian  Religious  In- 
struction."    American  Journal  of  Theology,  April,  1907. 

Spalding,  J.  L. — "Means  and  Ends  of  Education."  $1.00, 
McClurg. 

Spiller,  G. — "Moral  Instruction  in  Eighteen  Countries."  Lon- 
don, 1909. 

Starbuck,  E.  D. — "Moral  and  Religious  Education.  Sociologi- 
cal Aspect."     Religious  Education,  Feb.,  1909. 

Taws,  J. — "  Schulkampfe  der  Gegenwart."     Leipzig,  1906. 

Wilm,  E.  C— "The  Problem  of  Religion."     $1.25,  Pilgrim  Press. 

"The  Culture  of  Religion.  Elements  of  Religious  Educa- 
tion."    $.75,  Pilgrim  Press. 


828  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Proc.  Congress  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  vol.  VIII,  Houghton. 
Proc.  International  Moral  Education  Congress.     London,  1908  Jf. 
Proc.  Northern  Illinois  Teachers'  Association.     "Moral  and  Re- 
ligious Training  in  the  Public  Schools."     Elgin,  111.,  1908. 


APPENDIX 

THE  UPWARD   EXTENSION  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 
By  Charles  Hughes  Johnston,  Editor 

The  following  statement  from  Superintendent  C.  C.  Starr,  of 
Fresno,  Cal.,  dated  February  4,  1914,  is  of  interest  and  signifi- 
cance as  relating  to  the  problem  of  the  upward  extension  of  the 
American  high  school: 

"The  junior  college  had  its  origin  in  California  in  Fresno.  It 
is  proving  entirely  satisfactory  to  patrons  and  educators  in  this 
community.  The  element  of  uncertainty  on  the  start  was  that 
of  the  amount  of  patronage.  The  city  is  growing  rapidly,  and 
with  it  the  junior  college,  so  that  now  it  is  on  a  firm  footing  from 
every  point  of  view.  The  junior  college  would  probably  not  be 
successful  except  in  the  larger  centres  of  population.  The 
smaller  the  attendance,  the  higher  the  cost  per  capita. 

"  The  junior  college  has  the  advantage  of  being  a  college  at 
home.  Home  life  and  home  influence  are  best  for  the  student. 
The  economy  of  free  home  education  is  evident.  The  free  home 
college  opens  up  a  college  education  to  many  who  either  could 
not  or  would  not  otherwise  be  able  to  secure  its  advantages. 
The  junior  college  enlarges  the  number  of  centres  of  college  in- 
fluence in  the  State,  and  in  that  way  leaves  its  impress  upon  a 
larger  and  better-distributed  citizenship. 

"  The  close  relation  to  the  high  school  results  in  economy  in 
administration.  The  instructors  in  the  junior  college  become 
heads  of  the  high  school  departments,  and  teach  some  of  the 
advanced  high  school  subjects.  The  library  and  apparatus  of 
the  junior  college  are  also  at  the  command  of  the  high  school, 
and  the  high  school  department  becomes  unusually  well  equipped 
and  strengthened  as  a  consequence." 

California  has,  indeed,  taken  the  lead  in  this  "junior-college" 

829 


830  APPENDIX 

policy.  Bills  for  State  aid  are  formulated  and  are  expected  in 
the  near  future  to  be  enacted  into  law. 

Professor  Alexis  F.  Lange,  Dean  of  the  Faculties  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  California  and  head  of  its  Educational  Department,  in 
tracing  the  development  of  the  movement  for  the  upward  exten- 
sion of  high  schools  in  California,  says  that  this  movement  aims 
to  relegate  the  work  of  college  freshmen  and  sophomore  years  in 
universities  to  the  high  schools  sufficiently  equipped  to  carry  such 
work,  and  so  to  have  American  universities  gradually  approxi- 
mate the  standards  for  entrance  of  the  continental  European 
universities.  It  is  becoming  more  and  more  necessary  to  elimi- 
nate secondary  studies  in  our  highest  institutions  of  learning 
and  to  put  them  in  high  schools  where  they  belong.  Presidents 
James  of  the  University  of  Illinois  and  Judson  of  Chicago  Uni- 
versity are  vigorous  proponents  of  this  same  idea. 

At  the  University  of  California  the  courses  are  divided  into 
"lower  division"  and  "upper  division."  The  lower  division  in- 
cludes the  freshman  and  sophomore  years,  and  the  completion 
of  the  lower-division  work  entitles  the  student  to  the  "junior 
certificate."  Only  then,  when  he  has  qualified  for  this  certificate, 
is  the  student  enabled  to  become  a  member  of  the  university 
proper;  for  the  real  university  commences  with  the  junior  year 
and  extends  through  the  graduate  courses.  Hence,  the  first  two 
college  years  are  essentially  preparatory,  for  the  work  of  these 
years  is  only  a  continuation  of  preparatory  education.  By  com- 
mencing to  relegate  all  this  secondary  work  to  the  secondary 
schools,  the  university  aims  to  lessen  the  swamping  of  its 
premises  with  enrolments  of  freshmen  and  sophomores  it  is 
not  equipped  to  care  for.  The  present  equipment  is  only  suffi- 
cient for  upper  divisions,  real  university  work.  In  view  of  the 
rapidly  increasing  population  of  this  State,  this  policy  becomes 
all  the  more  imperative.  President  Judson,  of  Chicago,  in  this 
connection  points  out  that  thirty  per  cent  of  the  work  of  the 
four-year  A.B.  course  of  the  Liberal  Arts  College  is  of  "secon- 
dary" not  "collegiate"  grade. 

Furthermore,  Doctor  Lange  stated  that,  because  of  having  to 
mass  lower-division  students  at  the  University  of  California  in 
very  large  classes,  it  is  impossible  to  give  them  anything  like  the 
opportunities  they  need.  The  instructors  and  the  equipment  are 
overtaxed.      He  asserted  expressly  that  Fresno  students  had  a 


APPENDIX  831 

better  chance  and  could  do  better  college  freshman  and  sopho- 
more work  in  their  local  "junior  college"  than  at  the  university. 
Here,  at  home,  in  their  small  classes,  they  could  get  closer  to,  and 
keep  closer  to,  their  studies  and  to  their  instructors. 

One  point  Doctor  Lange  emphasizes  clearly,  namely,  that  the 
University  of  California  would  recognize,  and  could  afford  to 
recognize,  the  college  work  done  by  Fresno  students  in  their 
home  institution;  that  if  the  principal  approved  of  the  college 
work  done  by  any  student  in  Fresno  High  School,  that  work 
would  be  accepted  by  the  university,  and  that  it  would  count 
in  every  respect  the  same  as  if  the  work  had  been  done  at  the 
University  of  California,  and  without  the  necessity  of  any  further 
examinations. 

Doctor  Lange  also  dwells  on  the  opportunity  "upward  exten- 
sion" in  the  high  school  affords  to  students  who  will  never  go 
to  a  university,  and  who  never  intend  to  go,  and  how  desirable 
it  is  for  this  college  work  to  adapt  itself  to  the  needs  of  the  com- 
munity. Santa  Barbara,  Los  Angeles,  and  other  cities  are  fol- 
lowing the  lead  of  Fresno  in  this  development. 

The  Fresno  six-year  high  school  curriculum,  it  should  be  noted, 
is  also  preparatory  to  the  affiliated  colleges  at  San  Francisco, 
Hastings  College  of  Law,  and  the  California  College  of  Medicine 
and  Dentistry.  Commencing  with  the  year  1913,  these  colleges 
will  require  for  entrance  two  more  years  of  preparatory  studies 
in  addition  to  graduation  from  the  regularly  accredited  high 
school.  Students  promoted  from  Fresno  Junior  College  will  be 
admitted  to  any  of  these  affiliated  colleges  on  equal  terms  with 
students  who  have  completed  the  sophomore  year  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  California,  and  without  any  examinations  or  condi- 
tions. 

Stanford  University  is  also  recognizing  this  upward  extension 
movement.  In  fact,  the  term  "junior  college"  is  said  to  have 
originated  with  President  Jordan.  Professor  Bentley,  Stanford 
inspector,  has  expressed  great  interest  and  solicitude  in  having 
lower  college  work  done  in  high  schools.  The  two  great  Cali- 
fornia universities  are,  therefore,  one  in  their  attitude  toward 
"junior-college"  work  in  our  secondary  institutions. 

In  addition  to  the  advantages  already  indicated,  the  "fact" 
should  commend  itself,  to  parents  particularly,  that  they  are 
enabled  to  have  their  children  at  home,  and  under  home  influ- 


832  APPENDIX 

ences  for  two  years  longer,  to  say  nothing  of  economy  in  ex- 
penses. This  applies  more  especially  to  students  living  in  or 
near  the  home  city,  but  also  to  students  from  more  remote 
homes  who  are  enabled  to  be  at  home  during  the  week's  end. 

The  .State  law  governing  high  school  tuition  will  also  apply  to 
junior-college  students. 

President  David  Starr  Jordan  in  191 2  thus  expressed  his 
views: 

"I  am  looking  forward,  as  you  know,  to  the  time  when  the 
large  high  schools  of  the  State  in  conjunction  with  the  small  col- 
leges will  relieve  the  two  great  universities  from  the  expense  and 
from  the  necessity  of  giving  instruction  of  the  first  two  uni- 
versity years.  The  instruction  of  these  two  years  is  of  necessity 
elementary  and  of  the  same  general  nature  as  the  work  of  the  high 
school  itself.  It  is  not  desirable  for  a  university  to  have  more 
than  about  two  thousand  students  gathered  together  in  one 
place,  and  when  the  number  comes  to  exceed  that  figure  then 
some  division  is  desirable.  The  only  reasonable  division  is  that 
which  will  take  away  students  who  do  not  need  libraries  or 
laboratories  for  their  work.  The  value  of  the  university  is 
highly  dependent  on  its  possession  of  great  and  expensive  libra- 
ries. I  am  interested  in  the  experiment  which  is  going  on  at 
Fresno  and  in  high  schools  in  Los  Angeles." 

Professor  Alexis  F.  Lange,  Dean  of  the  Faculties,  University  of 
California,  has  this  to  say: 

"Far-sighted  and  progressive  educators  are  agreed  that  the 
establishment  of  'Junior  Colleges'  denotes  a  necessary  develop- 
ment in  the  right  direction.  Such  extensions  of  the  four-year 
high  school  would  (1)  enable  the  universities  to  concentrate  their 
efforts  on  university  work  proper,  (2)  receive  for  young  people 
from  eighteen  to  twenty  years  of  age  the  immense  educational 
advantage  of  being  taught  and  trained  in  small  groups,  not  far 
from  home,  (3)  make  it  possible  for  thousands  who  are  unable 
to  attend  a  university  to  round  out  their  general  education,  (4) 
reduce  very  materially  the  cost  of  college  and  university  educa- 
tion, (5)  provide — a  most  important  factor— finishing  vocational 
courses  in  agriculture,  the  industries,  commerce,  applied  civics, 
domestic  science,  etc.,  which  cannot  be  adequately  provided 
either  by  the  four-year  high  school  or  by  the  universities,  (6)  tend 
to  create  a  number  of  educational  centres  of  a  high  order  whose 


APPENDIX 


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834  APPENDIX 

influence  for  good  would  extend  in  many  directions  over  large 
areas  of  the  State. 

"  The  State  University  has  stood  for  the  junior-college  plan  for 
more  than  fifteen  years,  and  its  policy  is  to  further  the  establish- 
ment of  junior  colleges  in  every  possible  way.  This  implies,  of 
course,  that  the  university  stands  ready  to  recognize  the  courses 
of  junior  colleges  as  the  equivalent  of  corresponding  courses  at 
Berkeley  and  to  giVe  full  credit  for  successfully  completed  work. 

"  The  city  of  Fresno  is  to  be  greatly  congratulated  on  being  the 
first  city  in  the  State  to  establish  a  junior  college.  May  this 
prosper  and  become  year  by  year  more  useful,  especially  to  those 
who  would  otherwise  have  to  forego  the  chance  of  higher  voca- 
tional training.  Those  recommended  for  university  work  at 
Berkeley  will,  I  feel  confident,  have  no  reason  to  regret  that  their 
freshman  and  sophomore  work  was  done  in  Fresno." 

President  E.  J.  James,  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  further 
calls  attention  to  the  necessity  that  high  schools,  thus  extended 
in  equipment  and  instructorial  force,  relieve  State  universities 
of  much  of  the  present  elementary  "extension  service"  they  are 
now  forced  to  render  communities,  such  as  water  analysis,  elemen- 
tary advice  in  sanitary  and  other  forms  of  engineering,  agricul- 
ture, and  public  health. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted  that  five  high  schools  in 
Illinois  have  now  practically  "Junior  College"  annexes. 

The  schematically  arranged  instructional  programme  for  the 
thus  "extended"  public-school  system  of  Fresno  gives  the  reader 
some  idea  of  the  scope  and  differentiation  of  work  now  possible, 
and  also  of  the  possible  further  extensions  in  various  directions. 

STUDIES   AND   ABBREVIATIONS 

Language  and  Literature 
English — E. 

Pre-Normal,  English  Grammar  (A)  Gr. 
Latin — L.     Modern  Language — ML. 
German — G. 
French — F. 
Spanish — Sp. 

History 
Ancient  History — Hi. 
Med.  and  Mod.  History — H2. 


APPENDIX  835 


English  History — H3. 
U.  S.  History  and  Civics — H4. 
Mod.  European  History — H5. 
Industrial  History — H5. 
Institutional  History — H6. 

Mathematics 
Elementary  Algebra — Mi. 
Plane  Geometry — M2. 
Solid  Geometry  (B)— M3. 
Trigonometry  (A) — M3. 
Advanced  Algebra — M4. 
Synthetic  Projective  Geometry  (B) — Ms. 
Plane  Analytical  Geometry  (A) — Ms. 
Differential  Calculus  (B)—  M6. 
Integral  Calculus  (A) — M6. 

Surveying 
Surveying — Sus. 
Pre-Normal  Arithmetic  (B) — A. 

Science,  Pure  and  Applied 
General  Science — GSi. 
General  Agriculture — Ag2. 
Chemistry — C3. 
Dairying  (B)— Ag3. 
Soil  and  Crops  (A) — Ag3. 
Animal  Husbandry  (B) — Ag4. 
Farm  Mechanics  and  Management  (A) — Ag4. 
Physics — P4. 
Advanced  Physics — P6. 
Organic  Chemistry — C5. 
Qual.  Chem.  Analysis  (B) — C6. 
Quant.  Chem.  Analysis  (A) — C6. 

Music 
Technic  and  History— MU3. 
History  and  Interpretation — MU4. 

Drawing  and  Art  Work 
Free-Hand  Drawing — D. 
Art  Metal— AM4. 
Geometric  Drawing — GD3. 

Commercial 
Com'l  Arithmetic — CA3. 
Short  Hand — S. 


836  APPENDIX 

Typewriting — T. 
Com'l  Law  (B)— CL3. 
Economics  (A) — Ec. 

Mechanical  Training 
Woodwork — W. 
Machine  Shop — MS. 

Domestic  Training — DT 
Cooking  and  Sewing. 

College  Electives — (CE)  elected  from  high  school  undergraduate  sub- 
jects, comprising  E3,  E4,  L3,  L4,  G2,  G3,  G4,  F2,  F3,  F4,  Sp2,  Sp3, 
H4,  M3,  M4,  C3,  P4,  D(2),  GD3(2),  which  studies  are  available  for 
advanced  university  credits. 

Notes 

1.  In  the  courses,  expressed  by  abbreviated  notation  used  on  the  reci- 
tation schedules,  the  heavily  typed  subjects  are  required.  Studies  in 
lighter  type  are  recommended  as  preferable,  but  students  may  substitute 
other  electives. 

2.  The  following  studies  are  required:  Ei,  E2,  two  years  of  history  in- 
cluding H4  usually,  two  years  of  science  for  boys,  one  of  which  must  be 
either  C3  or  P4,  at  least  one  year  of  science  for  girls,  which  must  be  either 
C3  or  P4  for  girls  intending  to  enter  the  university,  and  Mi  and  M2  ex- 
cept for  pupils  taking  only  two  years  commercial  course. 

3.  Undergraduate  students  are  expected  to  carry  four  full  studies;  in 
addition  they  may,  without  asking  permission,  carry  also  a  "half-credit" 
study,  i.  e.,  one  period  per  day  in  one  of  the  following:  AM,  D,  GD,  T, 
and  W.  But  pupils  may  not  take  five  full  studies  without  the  permis- 
sion of  the  principal,  except  in  the  senior  year  in  order  to  graduate. 

4.  Junior-college  students  who  expect  to  continue  work  in  the  univer- 
sity must  take  five  full  subjects  for  two  years  in  order  to  qualify  for  the 
"junior  certificate"  at  the  university. 

Junior-college  students  not  intending  to  go  to  the  university  are  free  to 
elect  any  studies  given  in  the  high  school. 

5.  Pupils  who  do  not  wish  to  pursue  a  regular  course,  as  listed  above, 
may  elect  studies  as  they  wish,  except  that  they  must  meet  the  require- 
ments mentioned  in  note  2. 

6.  One  year  of  Latin  is  urged  before  commencing  any  modern  language. 
Students  commencing  a  modern  language  are  urged  to  continue  at  least 
two  years  in  the  language  selected. 

7.  (B)  Denotes  first  term,  (A)  second  term  subjects.  The  number 
after  abbreviations  denotes  the  year  in  which  the  study  regularly  comes. 
The  number  in  parenthesis  after  the  study  denotes  periods  per  day. 

8.  If  L3  and  L4  are  not  taken  in  the  high  school,  social-science  students 


APPENDIX  837 

must  complete  them  at  the  university.     The  university  recommends  that 
these  studies  be  finished  in  the  high  school. 

9.  Members  of  musical  organizations,  if  working  under  the  direction 
of  the  musical  director,  and  practising  the  equivalent  of  one  hour  per 
school  day  throughout  the  year  are  entitled  to  a  full-term  credit. 

10.  Any  single  study  five  times  per  week  for  one  year  counts  as  1  unit; 
16  units  are  required  to  graduate. 

From  the  important  point  of  view  of  the  future  character  of 
strictly  "collegiate"  and  "university"  work,  contingent  upon 
the  above-sketched  developments  in  high  school  education,  the 
following  quotation  from  President  Judson,  taken  from  The 
President's  Report  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  1911-12,  may  well 
be  carefully  considered: 

"In  the  Annual  Report  for  1910-n  (pp.  11-15)  attention  was 
given  to  what  was  believed  to  be  the  undue  length  of  the  course 
of  study  in  our  various  schools  and  colleges.  It  was  urged  that 
at  least  two  years  should  be  eliminated  from  this  course,  and  that 
this  ought  to  be  done  without  lessening  efficiency  of  instruction. 

"  As  a  further  contribution  to  this  study  I  am  glad  now  to  report 
that  in  the  University  Elementary  School  (one  of  the  laboratory 
schools  in  the  School  of  Education)  one  step  toward  this  time- 
saving  has  already  been  taken  successfully.  It  has  been  found 
possible  to  accomplish  all  the  purposes  of  the  elementary  school 
in  seven  grades  instead  of  eight,  and  this  change  has  been  effected. 
Boys  and  girls,  in  other  words,  hereafter  will  pass  through  the 
elementary  school  and  reach  the  high  school  one  year  earlier 
than  heretofore  has  been  the  case,  and  it  is  believed  that  they  are 
no  less  qualified  to  take  up  high  school  work. 

This  leaves  the  question  of  saving  still  another  year  as  between 
the  high  school  and  the  early  years  of  the  colleges.1 

"  As  bearing  on  this  subject,  attention  is  invited  to  the  situation 
in  the  curricula  of  the  colleges.  An  investigation  of  this  subject 
shows  plainly  that  from  20  to  30  per  cent  of  the  work  required  in 
the  four-year  college  course  is  in  content  and  essentially  in  mode 
of  treatment  merely  high  school  work.  In  other  words,  we  re- 
quire the  student  in  order  to  enter  one  of  the  colleges  to  have 

1  It  will  be  seen  that  the  suggestion  of  saving  only  one  more  full  year 
is  a  modest  one  when  we  observe  from  Table  XX,  p.  196,  that  the  median 
age  of  graduation  June,  1912,  was  22.90,  showing  that  the  median  age 
of  entering  college  for  these  students  was  about  19. 


838  APPENDIX 

spent  four  years  in  a  good  high  school,  and  then,  not  satisfied 
with  that,  we  require  him  before  taking  serious  college  work  to 
spend  at  least  a  year  more  in  high  school  training. 

"  Obviously  this  leads  to  the  question  as  to  what  is  the  distinc- 
tion, if  any,  between  work  properly  adapted  to  the  high  school 
and  work  better  adapted  to  the  college.  Is  not  almost  every  sub- 
ject taught  in  colleges  also  made  a  part  of  the  high  school  cur- 
riculum? 

"The  answer  to  these  questions  is  on  the  whole  not  difficult 
and  is  rather  easily  found  by  an  inspection  of  the  content  of  the 
courses  of  instruction.  In  general  terms  it  may  be  said  that  the 
content  of  a  high  school  course  is  essentially  elementary,  whereas 
the  content  of  a  college  course,  involving  more  maturity  of  mind 
and  of  treatment,  is  distinctly  advanced  in  character.1 

"The  application  of  these  principles  is  obvious.  In  the  first 
years  of  the  colleges  instruction  is  given  for  two  full  years  in 
elementary  French  and  in  elementary  German,  and  one  full  year 
in  general  history;  to  the  extent  of  two  thirds  of  a  year  in  English 
composition  and  literature;  to  the  extent  of  one  quarter  in  polit- 
ical science;  and  also  there  is  more  or  less  elementary  work  in 
Latin,  in  physics,  in  chemistry,  in  mathematics,  and  in  biology. 
The  content  of  these  courses  is  not  different  essentially  from  that 
of  the  same  subjects  as  treated  in  the  high  school  classes.  The 
students,  of  course,  are  a  year  older;  otherwise  there  is  no  material 
difference.  All  of  these  things  should  be  taught  in  the  high 
school,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  any  adequate  reason  for  requiring 
five  years  instead  of  four  years  of  high  school  instruction.  A  stu- 
dent really  begins  his  college  work  when  he  has  finished  his  fifth 
high  school  year,  usually  misnamed  the  college  freshman  year. 

"  What  is  gained  by  doing  this  large  amount  of  elementary  work 
at  the  beginning  of  the  college  course?  No  doubt,  the  student  is 
put  in  the  way  of  learning  something  of  some  branches  of  knowl- 
edge which  did  not  come  his  way  in  the  high  school.  Would  not 
this,  however,  quite  as  well  justify  a  sixth  year  or  a  seventh  year 
of  the  elementary  subjects?  The  field  of  knowledge  is  wide, 
and  the  amount  of  elementary  knowledge  which  any  given  indi- 
vidual can  attain  on  a  multiplicity  of  subjects  is  limited  only  by 

1  Also,  no  doubt,  a  college  course  may  well  include  subjects  which  in 
their  nature  belong  to  a  relative  maturity  of  mind.  Perhaps  Sanskrit 
and  philosophy  may  be  cited  as  illustrative. 


APPENDIX  839 

the  time  at  his  disposal.  Is  it  not  idle  to  attempt  to  cover  the 
whole  field  of  human  knowledge  in  the  case  of  any  one  student? 
Why  not  frankly  recognize  that  there  are  some  things  which  even 
an  intelligent  and  educated  man  is  not  expected  to  know  very 
much  about? 

"  A  distinctly  injurious  effect  of  this  additional  high  school  year 
lies  in  the  fact  that  when  a  student — a  young  man  or  woman 
seventeen  or  eighteen  years  old — enters  college  he  finds  that 
there  is  not  a  more  intellectual  atmosphere;  he  finds  himself 
doing  the  same  sort  of  things  in  essentially  the  same  sort  of  way, 
perhaps  in  fact  not  quite  so  well,  as  was  the  case  in  the  school 
from  which  he  comes.  How  can  we  expect  under  these  circum- 
stances that  the  student  shall  get  any  new  intellectual  eager- 
ness? How  can  we  expect  that  he  will  not  make  up  his  mind 
that,  after  all,  study  doesn't  yield  anything  very  fresh  or  of  any 
great  value?  How  can  we  expect  that  he  should  not  find  far 
more  interest  and  value  in  the  multiform  activities  which  beset 
the  student  on  his  entering  college?  The  average  student  is  by 
no  means  deficient  in  intellectual  acumen.  He  generally  forms  a 
fairly  accurate  judgment  as  to  what  is  worth  while  and  what  is 
not  worth  while,  and  I  strongly  suspect  that  the  dissipation  of 
energy  which  marks  the  early  years  of  the  college  course  is  not 
something  which  results  primarily  from  the  innate  pernicious 
qualities  of  freshmen  but  that  it  comes  more  likely  from  an  irra- 
tional requirement  by  college  authorities.  In  other  words,  on 
entering  college  the  student  should  find  that  he  is  studying  ad- 
vanced subjects  in  a  new  way,  treated  seriously,  and  yielding 
results  which  he  at  once  realizes  to  be  of  importance  to  himself. 

"An  examination  of  the  record  sheets  of  a  number  of  our  own 
students  who  have  been  graduated  from  the  colleges  in  recent 
years  substantiates  what  has  been  said  above  as  to  the  amount  of 
elementary  subjects  of  high  school  nature  which  form  part  of  the 
college  curriculums.  No  complete  study  has  been  made  of  the  cur- 
riculums  of  other  colleges.  Still  it  may  be  said  that  conversation 
with  parents  and  students  who  are  in  a  position  to  know  what 
some  other  important  colleges  are  doing  would  lead  to  the  same 
conclusion  as  above. 

"  The  best  thing  to  do  with  the  freshman  year  is  to  abolish  it." 


INDEX 


Administration  of  athletics,  440- 

443- 

Adolescent,  730. 

Adolescent  and  debate,  463,  464. 

Advisoiy  Board  of  student  functions, 
416,417. 

Advisory  Council  of  student  func- 
tions, 417. 

Agassiz,  634. 

Agricultural  schools,  569. 

Ailments,  communicable,  684;  non- 
communicable,  682,  683. 

Aims  of  athletics,  443,  444. 

Aims  of  high  school,  36. 

Alabama,  state  laws  of,  68,  69. 

Alderman,  Superintendent  of  Oregon, 

233.  234- 
Altruism  and  individualism,  506-510. 
American  Institute  of  Child  Life,  320- 

322. 
Apparatus,  gymnastic,  458-460;  out- 
door, 460-462. 
Arizona,  state  laws  of,  84. 
Arkansas,  state  laws  of,  72,  73. 
Art  Association  of  Richmond,   Ind., 

694-700;  management  of,  700-705. 
Art  association,  695;  opportunity  for 

new  relationships,  702. 
Art  centre,  high  school  as  the,  Chapter 

XXVIII. 
Art  clubs,  423,  703. 
Art  gallery,  exhibits  of,  696-698;  open 

days  for,  704;  schoolhouse  for,  696. 
Articulation  of  elementary  and  high 

school,  624. 
Artists,  local,  703,  704. 
Athletics,  high  school,  Chapter  XVII, 

411,   423;   administration  of,   440- 

443;  student  interest  in,  442. 
Attendance,    high    school    (1911-12), 

21;  (1889-90),  21;  increase  in,  22. 
Austria,  elementary  education  in,  174, 

175- 
Authorities,  testimony  of  school,  512- 

5H-  . 

Avocation,  relation  to  social  activi- 
ties, 640,  641;  relation  to  vocation, 

637-63°- 
Avocational  guidance,  Chapter  XXV; 

the  school  and,  644-653. 
Avocational  pursuits,  prevalence  of, 

633-637- 


Avocational  training,   needs  of,  641- 

644.  _ 
Avocations  and  diversions,  632. 
Ayres,  L.  P.,  429,  430. 

Bad  boys  and  girls,  712. 

Bagley,  W.  C,  719,  728,  729. 

Bailey,  H.  T.,  706. 

Barnes  Law,  49,  80. 

Berlin,  N.  H.,  234. 

Berry,  C.  S.,  674. 

Biblical  History,  specific  instruction 
in,  747-751. 

Biblical  Literature,  specific  instruc- 
tion in,  747-751. 

Bliss,  W.  D.  P.,  600. 

Boise  Survey,  392. 

Boston,  337;  High  School  of  Com- 
merce, 663-665. 

Brown,  J.  Stanley,  389. 

Bruce,  H.  Addington,  290. 

Brumbaugh,  Martin,  333. 

Buildings,  high  school,  22;  decoration 
of,  339,  340;  number  of  (1889-1910), 
103. 

Bureau  of  School  Efficiency,  functions 
of,  no;  files  of,  no. 

Business  enterprise,  high  school  as, 
Chapter  IV. 

Business  manager  for  schools,  114; 
office  established,  115;  rules  and 
regulations  of,  115. 

Butler,  N.  M.,  741. 

California,  state  laws  of,  89-93. 
Calvinists,    attitude     on    education, 

164, 165. 
Canada,    elementary    and    secondary 

education  in,  175. 
Caste  system,  172. 
Cattell,  J.  McK.,  406. 
Central     Commercial     and     Manual 

Training  High  School  of  Newark, 

N.  J.,  296-306. 
Central  High  School,  Grand  Rapids, 

Mich.,  422. 
Centralization  tendency,  134,  135. 
Centre  of  social  life,  high  school  as, 

S34-S36. 
Character,  laboratory  for,  436,  437. 
Charts,   physical  development,  447- 

452. 


841 


842 


INDEX 


Chesterton,  G.  K.,  737. 

Choice  of  games,  445-451. 

Cicero  Township  High  School,  662, 663. 

Cincinnati,  co-operative  plan,  Univer- 
sity of,  223,  224. 

Citizens'  Committee,  318. 

Civic  activity,  centre  of,  536,  537. 

Civic  and  social  equipment  of  teach- 
ers, 405. 

Civic  phase  of  library,  559,  600. 

Clark,  Lotta,  240-244. 

Classification  of  high  school  teachers, 
402-404. 

Class  management,  Chapter  IX. 

Class  organization,  253,  254. 

Class  organizations,  424. 

Cleveland  Technical  High  School,  222. 

Clubs,  art,  423;  dramatic,  421,  422; 
leadership,  418;  musical,  422,  423. 

Coaching,  athletic,  454. 

Coleridge,  634. 

Colgrove,  C.  P.,  266,  267. 

College  fraternity,  506-509. 

Colleton,  E.,  624,  625. 

Colonies,  Dame  schools  in,  164;  Latin 
or  grammar  schools  in,  164;  ver- 
nacular schools  in,  164. 

Colorado,  state  laws  of,  82,  83. 

Commercial  high  school,  566. 

Commission  plan  of  debate,  472,  473. 

Committee  of  Ten,  report  of,  169. 

Common  aims,  absence  of,  658. 

Commons,  John  R.,  226,  227. 

Community  need  versus  traditional 
pedagogy,  313-315- 

Community,  principal's  new  attitude 
toward,  521,  522,  526-528. 

Complete  living,  692. 

Concentration  in  study,  302. 

Conduct  of  sports,  440-442. 

Connecticut,  state  laws  of,  63,  64. 

Continuation  schools,  administration 
of,  588-590;  awakened  interest  in, 
552;  history  of,  547-552;  principles 
governing,  535,  554;  Wisconsin, 
226,  227. 

Continuation  work  in  high  school, 
Chapter  XXII,  obstacles  to,  589, 
590;  types  of,  557-573- 

Cooley,  E.  G.,  227,  228,  554,  555. 

Co-operation,  3,  4,  16-19;  various 
phases  of,  665,  666. 

Co-operation  between  high  school  and 
Sunday  school,  755-759. 

Co-operation  in  the  teaching  of  En- 
glish, Chapter  XXVI;  importance 
of,  654;  a  problem  of  economics,  661. 

Co-operative  agencies,  the  school's, 
Chapter  XIII,  331,  332. 


Co-operative  plan,  223-225.    • 

Cost  of  public  school  (1889-1910),  103. 

Courses  of  study,  elasticity  of,  230- 
233- 

Credits,  school,  426,  427. 

Cubberley,  E.  B.,  47,  89-92. 

Cultural  centre,  high  school  as,  539- 
542. 

Cultural  education,  need  of,  35. 

Cultural  phase  of  library,  600,  601. 

Culture  of  religion,  744-746. 

Current  problems  in  high  school  ac- 
counting, 117. 

Curriculum,  concentration  of,  201; 
distribution  of,  200;  enrichment  of, 
169,  170;  general,  198,  203,  204; 
necessity  for  reorganization,  179, 
180;  secular,  for  religious  culture, 
744,  745;  thinking,  388. 

Daily  work  as  a  moral  agency,  725. 

Dame  schools  in  colonies,  164. 

D.  A.  R.,  337. 

Darwin,  Charles,  634. 

Darwin,  Erasmus,  634. 

Davis,    Bessie   D.,    questionnaire  on 

vocational  guidance,  613-616. 
Davis,  Sir  Humphrey,  634. 
Debaters,  selection  of,  470. 
Debates,   genuine    and    pseudo,   464, 

465,    470,    471;    inter-high   school, 

474,  475;  methods  of,  467-474. 
Debating  activities,  Chapter  XlX. 
Debating  instinct,  463,  464. 
Debating  societies,  421,  465-474. 
Decoration  of  school  buildings,  339, 

340,  698-700. 
De  Garmo,  Charles,  746-751. 
Delaware,  state  laws  of,  64,  65. 
Department,    library    recognized    as, 

604,  605. 
Dewey,  John,  18,  711,  726. 
Dickinson,  G.  Lowes,  740. 
Direct  moral  instruction,  724,  725. 
Diseases,   high  school  students,   677, 

682,  685. 
Diversions,  avocations  and,  632. 
Division  of  school  day,  298,  299. 
Dramatic  clubs,  421,  422. 
Draper,  Andrew  S.,  58,  59. 
Dukes,  Doctor,  287,  288. 

East  Technical  High  School, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  275. 

Editorial  policy,  16-19. 

Educational  expert,  a  public  neces- 
sity, 93.  94- 

Educational  guidance,  198,  205,  206, 
612-617. 


INDEX 


843 


Educational  systems  of  Europe,  172. 

Educational  value  of  athletics,  435, 
430. 

Elementary  education,  in  Austria, 
174.  J75;  'n  Canada,  175;  in  En- 
gland, 174;  in  France,  174;  in  Ger- 
many, 172-174;  in  Japan,  175;  in 
Sweden,  175. 

Elimination,  causes  of,  624,  625. 

Eliot,  C.  W.,  711,  718. 

Elliott,  E.  C,  307. 

Emotions,  education  of,  6g2-6g4. 

Employers,  educational  demands  of, 
217. 

England,  elementary  and  secondary 
education  in,  174. 

English  and  other  studies,  658-660. 

English  composition,  486-490. 

Enrolment,  in  high  school  (1890- 
191 1),  106,  no;  distribution  of,  in; 
of  high  school  teachers  (1911),  105; 
of  public  school  teachers  (1889- 
1910),  102,  103. 

Equipment,  physical  education,  456- 
462. 

Ethical  imperative,  739. 

Eugenics,  669-671. 

Europe,  educational  systems  of,  172; 
industrial  training  in,  228. 

Evening  schools,  569-573. 

Examination,  medical,  681-684. 

Exceptional  children,  583,  584. 

Exercise,  definition  of,  431. 

Exhibits,  schedule  of,  for  one  season, 
701. 

Expenditure  per  pupil  (1900)  (1909), 
103,  104. 

Extension  courses,  586-588. 

Extension  of  public  education,  517-519. 

Faculty  adviser  of  debates,  474; 

meetings,  387-391;  relation  of,  to 

debating  societies,  465-467. 
Family,  responsibility  of  the,  713,  714; 

school  and  the,  723,  724. 
Financial  reports  of  high  school,  132. 
Financial  status  of  high  school,  44-47; 

need  of  revision  of,  47-50. 
Fitchburg,  Mass.,  co-operative  plan, 

223;  schools  of,  575. 
Fleury,  Maurice,  Doctor,  291. 
Florida,  state  laws  of,  71. 
Forbes,  George  M.,  537. 
Formal  Discipline,  198. 
Fortbildungschulen,  546. 
France,    elementary    and    secondary 

education  in,  174. 
Fraternities,  high  school,  Chapter  XX, 

416,  424. 


Fraternities,  legal  status  of,  515,  516; 
substitute  for,  514. 

Froebel,  301,  302. 

Functions,  of  high  school,  24;  of  prin- 
cipal, 362,  363;  of  superintendent, 
362. 

Galileo,  634. 

Gallery  in  high  school,  698-700. 

Gang  spirit,  503-506. 

G.  A.  R.,  337- 

Gedinhagen,  284,  285. 

General  high  school,  563-565. 

Geography,  486. 

Georgia,  state  laws  of,  71. 

Germany,  751,  752;  continuation 
schools  of,  546;  elementary  and 
secondary  education  in,  172-174. 

Girls'  High  School,  library  of,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  593. 

Grading,  by  pupils,  258,  259;  methods 
of,  666,  667. 

Grammar  of  Latin  schools  in  colonies, 
164. 

Grand  Rapids  Central  High  School, 
595- 

Gnce,  M.  V.,  333,  336,337- 

Grote,  633. 

Grouping  of  studies,  372. 

Group  work,  examples,  of  254,  255, 
264. 

Guidance  a  vocational,  Chapter  XXV; 
educational,  198,  205,  206;  voca- 
tional, Chapter  XXIV,  205,  206. 

Gymnasiums,  equipment  of,  456-462; 
temporary,  460;  typical,  456-458. 

Gymnastics,  high  school,  Chapter 
XVII. 

Hall,  G.  S.,  323,  724. 

Hanus,  P.  H.,  611,  612. 

Harris,  W.  T.,  718. 

Harrison,  Birge,  703. 

Heredity    and    the  high  school,   671, 

672. 
Hero- Worship,  717. 
Herschel,  F.  W.,  634. 
High  school  as  aid  to  young  workers, 

215,  220,  221. 
High  school  as  cultural  centre,  539-54  2 . 
High  school  as  social  centre,  334-336. 
High  school  athletics,  411,  423. 
High  school,  development  of,  503. 
High  school,  early,  209. 
"High    School    Education,"    Charles 

Hughes  Johnston,  Ed.,  12,  16,  388, 

464,  476,  557,  674,  750. 
High  school  education,  changing  scope 

of,  216. 


844 


INDEX 


High  school  fraternities,  Chapter  XX, 
416-424. 

High  school  "Major,"  201. 

High  school  "Minor,"  201 

High  school  paper,  490-497. 

High  school  principal,  526-528. 

High  school,  small,  202. 

Historic  conception  of  high  school,  25, 
27. 

History,  486. 

Holland,  Superintendent,  125,  127. 

Home  and  School  Association,  Chap- 
ter XII,  316;  Activities  of,  318,  319; 
aims  of,  317;  constitution  of,  348- 
351;  formation  of,  331;  material 
benefits  of,  336-339;  methods  of, 
317,  318;  organization  of,  346,  347; 
purpose  of,  332;  ultimate  goal  of, 
326,  327. 

Home  and  school  visitor,  324,  352,  353. 

Home  study,  conference  period  for, 
297;  reform,  295;  school  study 
versus,  Chapter  XI;  traditional 
methods  of,  2go. 

Horace  Mann  School,  534;  administra- 
tion of,  673-678;  divisions  of,  675, 
676;  educational,  673. 

Humboldt,  711. 

Hygiene,  245,  246,  252,  263;  of  the 
high  school,  Chapter  XXVII;  sex, 
322. 

Hygienic  teaching  in  high  school,  689- 
691. 

Idaho,  state  laws  of,  86,  87. 

Ideal  of  high  school,  16. 

Illinois,  state  laws  of,  75,  76. 

Imitative  instinct,  501-503. 

Immigrants,  556. 

Improvement  of  high  school  teachers  in 
service,  Chapter  XV,  382,  383,  584. 

Indiana,  state  laws  of,  74,  75. 

Individual  education,  a  necessity  to- 
day, 170. 

Individualism  and  altruism,  506-510. 

Industrial  high  school,  567. 

Industrial  training  in  Europe,  228. 

Industry,  the  child  in,  623. 

In  loco  parentis,  712,  713. 

Inspection,  health,  686. 

Inter-high  school  debating,  474-483; 
difficulties  of,  479-483. 

Intermediate  department,  text-books 
for,  189,  190. 

Internal  government  of  high  school, 
Chapter  XIV. 

Institutionalism,  221,  222. 

Iowa,  state  laws  of,  78, 

Ittner,  W.  B.,  698. 


James,  William,  726,  746. 

Japan,  elementary  education  in,  175. 

Japanese  Imperial  Rescript,  720. 

Jefferson,  Joseph,  633. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  633. 

Jenks,  Professor,  419. 

Jersey  City  High  School,  544. 

Johnson-Jeffries,  489. 

Johnston,     Charles    Hughes,     "High 

School  Education,"  12,  16,  388,  389, 

464,  476,  557,  674. 
Joiner,  C.  E.,  77. 
Joliet,  111.,  389. 
Jones,  O.  M.,  266. 
Journalism,     high     school,     Chapter 

XVIII. 
Junior  x\ssociation  of  Commerce,  425. 
"Jury  Plan"  of  debate,  472,473. 

Kansas,  conditions  in  secondary 
schools  of,  141-163;  state  laws  of, 
79,  80. 

Kansas  City,  Kans.,  371;  schools  of, 

577- 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  361. 
Kansas  City  Star,  488. 
Kant,  739. 

Kentucky,  state  laws  of,  70. 
Key,  Ellen,  323. 
Klapper,  Paul,  367. 

Ladies'  Circle  and  Corps,  337. 

Lange,  Alexis  F.,  356. 

Latin  or  Grammar  Schools  in  Colo- 
nies, 164. 

Leadership  Clubs,  418. 

Legal  status  of  the  high  school,  Chap- 
ter III. 

Legislation,  need  for  (fraternities), 
516. 

Library,  high  school,  Chapter  XXIII; 
function  of,  591-595;  extension, 
"Packet  Libraries,"  320. 

Life  career,  interest  in,  608,  609. 

Lindscy,  Judge  Ben,  18. 

Literary  societies,  421. 

Local  paper,  writing  for,  497. 

Los  Angeles  High  School,  235,  236, 
543- 

Louisiana,  state  laws  of,  71. 

Maine,  state  laws  of,  51,  52. 

"Major,"  high  school,  201. 

Manual  training  in  high  school,  210; 
as  a  moral  agency,  726;  pedagogi- 
cal value  of,  218. 

Maryland,  state  laws  of,  65,  66. 

Massachusetts,  state  laws  of,  56,  57. 

Material  equipment,  5-9, 


INDEX 


845 


McAndrew,  William,  18. 
McMurray,  F.  M.,  267. 
Medical  examination,  681-684. 
Medical  inspection,  athletics  and,  454, 

456. 
Medical  sociology,  668,  66g. 
Medical  supervision,  678,  679. 
Michigan,  state  laws  of,  77,  78,  102. 
Minnesota,  state  laws  of,  53,  54. 
"Minor,"  high  school,  201. 
Mississippi,  state  laws  of,  72. 
Missouri,  state  laws  of,  78,  79. 
Montana,  state  laws  of,  84,  85. 
Montclair,  N.  J.,  337. 
Montessori,  301,  302. 
Moral  agencies,  Chapter  XXIX. 
Moral  agencies,  co-operation  of,  711; 

direct,  of  reflective  morality,  708; 

indirect,  707;  of  custom,  708;  other 

than  school,  708-710;  the  teacher, 

the  chief,  732,  733. 
Moral    and    religious   problems,  341, 

342. 
Moral    training,    recognition    by    the 

state  of,  721. 
Morris,  William,  696. 
Mortality,  high  school,  112,  220,  304. 
"Mothers'  Meetings,"  316. 
Mundy,  William  James,  633. 
Municipal  problems,  325. 
Musical  clubs,  422,  423. 

National  Congress  for  Mothers, 
338. 

National  Council  of  Teachers  of  En- 
glish, 607. 

Nebraska,  state  laws  of,  81,  82. 

Nevada,  state  laws  of,  85. 

Newark,  N.  J.,  High  School  of,  687; 
library  work  in  schools  of,  599,  600. 

New  Hampshire,  state  laws  of,  60-62. 

New  Jersey,  state  laws  of,  65. 

New  Mexico,  state  laws  of,  86. 

Newspaper,  studying  the,  484,  485;  as 
an  aid  in  history  and  geography, 
486;  as  an  aid  in  English  composi- 
tion, 486-490. 

Newton,  annual  reports  of  School 
Committee,  119,  120,  128-132; 
schools  of,  624. 

New  York,  state  laws  of,  57-60. 

New  York  Times,  490. 

North  Bennett  Street  Industrial 
School,  625-627. 

North  Carolina,  state  laws  of,  67,  68. 

North  Dakota,  state  board  of  educa- 
tion of,  758;  state  laws  of,  54,  55. 

Nurses,  duties  of  physicians  and,  679, 
680. 


Obstacles  to  continuation  work, 
589,  590. 

Ohio,  state  laws  of,  73,  74. 

Ohio  Survey,  402. 

Oklahoma,  state  laws  of,  73. 

Open  days  for  art  gallery,  704. 

Open-debate  plan,  472. 

Opposing  views  of  high  schools,  9,  10. 

Oregon,  state  laws  of,  88,  89. 

Organization,  class,  253,  254. 

Organizations,  class,  424. 

Outworn  conceptions  of  religious  edu- 
cation, 742-744. 

Overspecialization,  evils  of,  656,  657. 


"Packet  Libraries,"  320. 
Palmer,  Alice  Freeman,  711. 
Palmer,  George  H.,  404. 
Parents,  library  lectures  to,  601,  602. 
"Parent-teacher  groups,"  316. 
Part-time  schools,  573-581. 
Patriotism   as   a  basis  for  morality, 

720. 
Paulsen,  Frederick,  196,  741,  752. 
Pennsylvania,  state  laws  of,  55,  56. 
Pensions  for  teachers,  arguments  for, 

136-138. 
"People's  College,"  g. 
People's  High  School,  584-586. 
Per  capita  costs,  comparison  of,  for 

elementary   and   secondary   pupils, 

125;    interpretation   of,    124,    125; 

methods    of    obtaining,    120,    121; 

table  of,  123;  variations  in,  121,  122. 
Permanent  collection  of  works  of  art, 

704,  705- 

Perry,  C.  A.,  335. 

Philadelphia  Home  and  School  League, 
317,  336,337- 

Physical  education,  30-32;  character 
value  of,  436-438;  definition  and 
aims,  430,  431;  educational  value  of, 
435;  forms  of,  431  (exercise,  431; 
work,  431;  play,  432);  hygienic 
value  of,  432,  433;  recreative  value 
of,  434;  social  value  of,  434,  435. 

Physical  instructor,  444,  445. 

Physicians  and  nurses,  duties  of,  679, 
680. 

Physiology,  245,  246,  263. 

Plan  of  book,  16-19. 

Plans  for  supervised  study,  280-282. 

Plato,  232,  711. 

Practical  arts,  high  school,  Boston, 
236-238. 

Pre-apprenticeship  schools,  559,  560. 

Preventability  of  deaths  of  high  school 
pupils,  677,  678. 


846 


INDEX 


Prevocational  course,  results  of,  626- 
628. 

Principal,  function  of,  362,  363,  661- 
665;  new  attitude  toward  com- 
munity, 521,  522,  526-528. 

Principal's  day,  394. 

Problems,  typical  high  school,  n,  12. 

Professional  reading,  383-387. 

Programme  of  high  school,  flexibility 
of,  39-41;  instructional,  12;  place  of 
physical  education  in,  438-440. 

Promotion  of  high  school  teachers, 
396;  of  high  school  students,  303. 

Public  education,  changing  content  of, 
528-531. 

Public  opinion  in  schools,  730. 

Qualities,  desirable  of  different 

GAMES,  446-451. 

Questionnaire,    vocational    guidance, 

613-623. 
Questions  for  debates,  discussion  of, 

469,  470;  selection  of,  468,  476,  477; 

study  of,  468,  469. 

Recitation,  type  of,  301,  302. 

Records,  school,  425,  426. 

Recreation,  434. 

Recreation  centre,  538,  539. 

Relation  of  high  school  to  elementary 
school,  Chapter  V,  175-178;  to 
higher  educational  institutions, 
Chapter  VI;  to  industrial  life  of 
community,  Chapter  VII. 

Relationship  between  principal  and 
teachers,  364. 

Religion,  as  social  fact,  737,  738;  as 
Weltanschauung,  738,  739. 

Religion    in    public    education,   741- 

744- 

Religious  education,  outworn  concep- 
tions of,  742-744;  in  the  home,  322- 
324- 

Religious  life  of  the  high  school  stu- 
dent, Chapter  XXX. 

Religious  and  moral  problems,  341, 
342. 

Reports,  financial,  132. 

Rhode  Island,  state  laws  of,  60. 

Rhodes  scholarship,  376. 

Ribot,  290,  291. 

Richmond,  Indiana,  337,  694. 

Richmond,  Va.,  338. 

Right  arm,  the  high  school's,  Chapter 
XII. 

Riley,  James  Whitcomb,  488,  489. 

Rochester,  N.  Y.,  371,  393,  408. 

Roosevelt,  T.,  481,  482. 

Ross,  E.  A.,  359. 


Royce,  J.,  740. 

Rules    governing    student    organiza- 
tions, 419,  420. 
Rural  high  school,  7,  8,  523. 
Ruskin,  611. 


Sadler,  M.  E.,  715,  726,  752. 

Salary  of  teachers,  139,  140. 

Sanitation,  school,  688,  689. 

Schneider,  Dean  Herman,  University 
of  Cincinnati,  223,  224. 

School  Board,  function  in  moral  train- 
ing, 733- 

School  buildings,  decoration  of,  339, 
340,  698,  700. 

School  credits,  426,  427. 

School  paper,   Chapter  XVIII,  424, 

425- 

School  records,  425,  426. 

School  sanitation,  688,  689. 

School  sports,  731,  732. 

School  study  versus  home  study,  Chap- 
ter XI. 

Scudder,  Janet,  700. 

Secondary  education,  in  Austria,  174, 
175;  in  Canada,  175;  in  England, 
174;  in  France,  174;  in  Germany, 
172-174;  in  Japan,  175;  in  Sweden, 

175- 

Secret  societies,  411. 

Service,  training  by  means  of,  734,  735. 

Sex  hygiene,  322. 

Shortcomings  of  high  school,  42-44. 

Sisson,  E.  O.,  737. 

Six  year  high  school,  358. 

Social  activities  of  high  school  stu- 
dents, administration  of,  Chapter 
XVI. 

Social  administration,  Chapter  I,  12. 

Social  appeal  of  study,  292. 

Social  centre,  high  schools  as,  Chap- 
ter XXI,  519-521,  53i,  532;  in  high 
and  ward  schools,  542,  543. 

Social  conditions,  force  of,  523-526. 

Social  economy,  28,  29. 

Social  education,  34,  35. 

Social  enterprise,  high  school  educa- 
tion as  a,  Chapter  II. 

Social  experimentation,  727,  728. 

Social  expert,  351-353- 

Social  functions,  415;  advisory  board 
of,  416,  417;  advisory  council  of, 
417;  student  council  of,  417,  418. 

Social  inertia,  213,  214. 

Social  institution,  school  as,  729. 

Social   pressure  on  high  school,  238, 

239- 
Social  side  of  athletics,  434,  435. 


INDEX 


847 


Social  standard  of  educational  values, 
218,  219. 

Social  teacher,  319-352. 

Social  utility,  29;  of  traditional  sub- 
jects, 36-39- 

Socialized  curriculums  and  course  of 
study,  Chapter  VIII,  240-244. 

Society  and  school,  3,  4. 

Sociology,  medical,  608,  669. 

Socrates,  232. 

South  Carolina,  state  laws  of,  68. 

South  Dakota,  state  laws  of,  83. 

Spaulding,  Superintendent,  117,  120, 
128-132. 

Special  student  in  high  school,  581. 

Specific  instruction  in  Biblical  litera- 
ture and  in  Biblical  history,  747- 

75i- 
Spirit  of  the  school,  730,  731. 
Sports,  school,  731,  732;  conduct  of, 

440-442. 
Standards,  lack  of  uniform,  656. 
State,  duty  of,  in  training  teachers, 

733,  734- 

Statistics  for  high  schools,  104-107. 

Statistics  for  public  schools,  102-104. 

Status,  change  in  the  teacher's,  733. 

Stockbridge,  F.  P.,  517. 

Strong,  Josiah,  600. 

Student  council  of  social  functions, 
417,418. 

Student  self-government,  377,  418, 
729,  730. 

Study,  factors  in,  269,  270;  function  of 
books  in,  279,  280;  habits,  302,  303; 
home-reform,  295-297;  plans  for  ad- 
justment, 275,  276;  psychology  of, 
Chapter  X;  social  appeal  of,  292; 
supervision  of,  276,  280-282;  tech- 
nic  of,  266-294. 

Study  room,  285;  illumination  of,  286; 
temperature  of,  286,  287. 

Sumner,  Dean,  341,  342. 

Sunday  schools,  582,  583;  co-operation 
between  high  school  and,  755-759. 

Superintendent,  function  of,  362. 

Supervised  out-of-class  work,  582. 

Supervision,  12,  13,  14,  391,  394. 

Sweden,  elementary  education  in,  175. 


Tables,  legal  status  of  states,  96- 

100. 
Teachers,    old-fashioned,     330,     331; 

qualities  of  helpful,  270,  271. 
Technic  of  study,  266-280,  294. 
Technical  high  school,  569. 


Tennessee,  state  laws  of,  6g,  70. 

Texas,  state  laws  of,  73. 

Text-books  for  elementary  schools,  1 90. 

Theology,  737,  738. 

Thorndike,  E.  L.,  666. 

Thum,  William,  225. 

Township  high  school,  75-77. 

Trade-schools,  560-562. 

Traditional     pedagogy,     community 

need  versus,  313-315. 
Traditional  subjects,  social  utility  of, 

36-38. 
Tufts,  James  H.,  599,  707. 


University  High  School,  Chicago, 

727. 
Updegraff,  Doctor  Harlan,  122,  124. 
Utah,  state  laws  of,  83,  84. 


Vacation  schools,  570. 

Vermont,  state  laws  of,  62,  63. 

Vernacular  schools  in  Colonies,  164. 

Victrola,  692. 

Virginia,  state  laws  of,  66,  67. 

Visiting  student  work,  581. 

Vocational  centre,  high  school  as,  532- 

534- 
Vocational  courses,  358. 
Vocational  education,  32-34. 
Vocational  guidance,  Chapter  XXIV, 

205,  206,  234,  325,  609,  610,  729. 
Volksschulen,  173. 

Wallace,  669. 

Ward,  E.  J.,  536. 

Warthin,  A.  S.,  674. 

Washington  Irving  High  School,  222, 

223. 
Washington,  state  laws  of,  87,  88. 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  337- 
West  Virginia,  state  laws  of,  70. 
Wetterick,  S.  J.,  516. 
Wilm,  E.,  744. 
Wisconsin,    continuation    schools    of, 

226,  227;  state  laws  of,  52,  53. 
Wordsworth,  739. 
Work  versus  play  in  athletics,  432. 
Works  of  art,  permanent  collection  of, 

704,  705. 
Wyoming,  state  laws  of,  83. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.,  524. 
Zwickau  Theses,  753,  754. 


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